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LINCOLN'S INN. 



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PRINTED BY BALLANTYNB AND COMPANY 
EDINBURGH AND LONDON 



LINCOLN'S INN 

ITS ANCIENT AND MODERN 
BUILDINGS 

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

LIBRARY 



BY 

WILLIAM HOLDEN SPILSBURY 

LIBRARIAN 



Postea rctb qu&in TYRANNIO mihi libros disposuit, 
mens addtta videtur mcis aedibus. CiCERO 



JSeconb 4Bbition, ioh^ ^iitrvitann anb €ontciiann 



LONDON 
REEVES AND TURNER 

loo CHANCERY LANE and 196 STRAND 



PREFACE. 




NEARLY a quarter of a century has 
elapsed since the appearance of the first 
edition of this little work, and within 
that period many changes have taken place with 
regard to the buildings belonging to the Society, 
whose local habitation it has been the chief object 
of these pages to describe, as well as in its 
internal arrangements, not the least important of 
these being the plan just adopted for the promotion 
of legal study, and the more complete education 
of the student in the several branches of law and 
jurisprudence. 

Of those Benchers of the Society whose names 

* 

were prefixed to the volume on its publication in 
1850, about two-thirds have passed away from the 
scene of human life, many of whom had graced the 
seat of justice by their talents, or enlivened the 
social meetings in the Hall by their genial converse ; 



vi Preface. 

but a glance at the present list will show that the 
roll has been- amplified by many worthy accessions, 
and that some of the earlier names yet remain to 
adorn the annals of the Society. 

In this edition of the account of Lincoln's Inn, 
the work has been reduced in bulk, so as to bring it 
more within the reach of the inquiring visitor who 
may wish to know something of the history of those 
Inns of Court whose edifices he admires, wherein 
have been trained many of the distinguished men 
whose eloquence has charmed the forum or the 
senate, or whose wisdom and integrity have digni- 
fied the administration of justice for many centuries 
in this kingdom. With this object such portions 
of the work as contained bibliographical details 
relating to various classes of books not belonging 
to the law have been omitted or greatly curtailed, 
while all that relates to the peculiar features of 
Lincoln's Inn, or to the earlier law writers, has been 
retained, and at the same time many additions 
relative to the more recent changes in the buildings 
and in the arrangements of the Society have found 
place in its pages. 

An. index, which has been thought desirable, is 
added to this edition. 

Lincoln's Inn, June 1873. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction. Antiquity of the Laws of England, i. 
Magna Charta, ii. Inns of Court, i6. Legal Educa- 
tion, 20. Serjeants-at-Law and Queen's Counsel, 26. 



CHAPTER II. 

Early History, 34. The Old Buildings, 44. The 
Gate-house, 46. Courts and Chambers, 48. The 

. Old Hall, 52. Visit of King Charles II., 58. Tan- 
cred's Students, 60. The Chapel, 62. Mural 
Tablets, 79. Preachers, 82. Warburtonian Lectures, 
89. New Square, 91. The Stone Building, 94. 
The Gardens, 96. 



CHAPTER in. 

THE NEW HALL AND LIBRARY. Foundation, 
100. Exterior, 103. Interior of the Hall, 113. 



viii Contents. 



Kitchen and Cellars, 120. Council- Room an Draw- 
ing- Room, 122. Interior of the Library, 128. In- 
auguration by Her Majesty, 131. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE LIBRARY. Original foundation, 139. Dona- 
tions, 142. Catalogue, 145. Arrangement, 147. 
English Law: Early Treatises and Abridgments, 
149. Reports : Year Books, Coke, Plowden, &c., 178. 
Statutes, 192. Trials, 206. Civil Law, 208. Theo- 
dosian Code, 210. Corpus Juris Civilis, 212. Basilica, 
217. Canon Law, 223. Feudal Law, 223. Foreign 
Law, 226. Theology, 228. English History, 
230. Prynne's Records, 235. Topography, 238. 
Foreign History, 239. Greek and Latin 
Classics, 240. Dictionaries, 241. Bibliography, 
242. 



BENCHERS 

OF THB 

HONOURABLE SOCIETY OF LINCOLN'S INN. 

TRINITY TERM, 1873. 

The Rt. Hon. Lord St Leonards. 

The Rt. Hon. Sir Richard Torin Kindersley. 

The Rt. Hon. Sir William Goodenough Hayter, 

Bart. 
The Rt. Hon. Sir John Stuart. 
The Rt. Hon. Viscount Eversley. 
Robert Prioleau Roupell, Esq. 
LoFTUS Tottenham Wigram, Esq. 
The Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Ryan. 
John Billingsley Parry, Esq. 
The Rt. Hon. Lord Hatherley. 
Montagu Chambers, Esq., M.P. 
The Hon. Sir James Bacon, Vice-Chancellor and Chief 
Judge in Bankruptcy. 

The Rt. Hon. Spencer Horatio Walpole, M.P. 

Edward JoiiN Lloyd, Esq. 

The Rt. Hon. Lord Selborne, Lord Chancellor. 

The Hon. Sir Richard Malins, Vice-Chancellor. 

Charles Sprengel Greaves, Esq. 

John William WillcocK; Esq. 

William Thomas Shave Daniel, Esq. 

John Baily, Esq. 

Brent Spencer Follett, Esq. 

William Bulkeley Glasse, Esq., Treasurer. 



X Benchers of Lincoln's Inn. 

Richard Davis Ci^aig, Esq. 

The Rt. Hon. Sir William Milbourne James, Lord 

Justice. 
Edmund Beckett Denison, Esq. 
William Overend, Esq. 
The Rt. Hon. Lord Cairns. 
Allan Maclean Skinner, Esq. 
Evelyn Bazalgette, Esq. 
Sir Francis Henry Goldsmid, Bart., M.P. 
Richard Paul Amphlett, Esq., M.P. 
John Shapter, Esq. 
Sir Travers Twiss, D.C.L. 
John Hinde Palmer, Esq., M.P. 
William Anthony Collins, Esq. 
John Eraser Macqueen, Esq. 
JosiAH William Smith, Esq. 
Sir Richard Baggallay, M.P. 
Thomas Weatherley Phipson, Esq. 
Arthur Hobhouse, Esq., Legal Member of the 

Council in India. 
Thomas Webster, Esq. 
John Peter De Gex, Esq. 
Joshua Williams, Esq. 
Sir George Jessel, Solicitor-General. 
James Dickinson, Esq. 
Richard Garth, Esq. 
Harris Prendergast, Esq. 
Charles Grevile Prideaux, Esq. 
Benjamin Hardy, Esq. 
John Pearson, Esq. 
Henry Cotton, Esq. 
Edward Kent Karslake, Esq. 
Edward Ebenezer Kay, Esq. 
Henry Matthews, Esq. 
Clement Tudway Swanston, Esq. 



Benchers of Lincoln's Inn. xi 

Sir Robert Stuart, Chief Justice N.W. Provinces, 

India. 
Charles Parker Butt, Esq. 
Arthur Shelly Eddis, Esq. 
Douglas Brown, Esq. 
George Osborne Morgan, Esq., M.P. 
Edward Fry, Esq. 

The Hon. Sir John Wickens, Vice-Chancellor. 
Thomas Charles Renshaw, Esq. 
Leofric Temple, Esq. 
Charles William Wood, Esq. 
William John Bovill^ Esq. 
Joseph Napier Higgins, Esq. 
Thomas Halhed Fischer, Esq. 
Theodore Aston, Esq. 
Alexander Edward Miller, Esq. 
Charles Arthur Russell, Esq. 
Farrer Herschell, Esq. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION. 




EFORE entering upon an inquiry into 
the history of Lincoln's Inn, the most 
ancient of the Inns of Court, it may not 
be improper to advert briefly to the origin and 
antiquity of the Laws of England ; since it was for 
the accommodation of the students and professors 
of those laws that such inns or societies were first 
established. 

But the source of these laws, according to Sir 
Matthew Hale, is as undiscoverable as that of the 
Nile ; and — like the traveller who, in tracing the 
course of that celebrated river, exulted in the pleas- 
ing delusion that he had 

**fathom*d with his lance 
The first small fountains of that mighty flood " — * 



* Above a century has elapsed since the exploration of 
the branches of this river by Bruce ; but, notwithstanding 
all the researches of more recent travellers, crowned by the 

A 



•2 Introduction. 

the inquirer may imagine that he has arrived at the 
head of the stream, while he has only been exploring 
one of its branches. Though the spirit of modern 
research has thrown more light upon the history 
of the law, there is still much controversy among 
eminent historians and jurisconsults respecting the 
origin of the legal institutions of this kingdom, 
some writers confidently maintaining that the source 
of our legislation must* be sought in the streams 
which flowed from imperial Rome, and were thence 
distributed over the world, whilst others believe that 
our laws are mainly derived from the Teutonic 
nations from which our Anglo-Saxon ancestors 
originally sprang. 

" There is no good reason to doubt," observes 
Mr. J. M. Kemble,* " that at the period when the 
Teutonic tribes first attracted the attention of the 
south, they already possessed, more or less fully 
developed, the principles and germs of that system 
of polity, which has at length found its completion 
in the institutions of this country, in spite of all its 
changes still the most true to its Germanic proto- 
type." 

labours of the indefatigable Livingstone, the discovery of 
the true source of the Nile seems to be one of those geo- 
graphical problems which have not yet attained their 
solution. 

♦ Codex Diplomaticus ^vi Anglo-Saxonici, vol. I. Pre- 
face, p. iv. 



Introduction. 3 

By Lord Bacon it is observed, that " our laws are 
as mixed as our language, and as our language is 
so much the richer, the laws are the more com- 
plete ; " and an examination of the various elements 
that enter into the composition of these laws proves, 
in the words of a recent writer, that "Roman, 
Saxon, Dane, and Norman in turn brought their 
learning, their customs, and their wisdom into the 
channel in which the law of England was to flow." 

There are still extant several monuments of 
ancient legislation in this country, which may be 
here briefly enumerated. Passing over the periods 
which belong rather to the dontain of fable than of 
history, wherein are dimly descried through the 
mists of obscurity the names of Dunwallo Molmu- 
tius (Dyvnwal Moelmud), king of the Britons,* and 
of Mercia, queen of the same nation, who are said 
to have enacted laws before the Christian era, we 
find the earliest specimen of legislation to be the 

* The Molmutian laws are contained in the Welsh Triads, 
and though the authenticity of these historical documents 
may be questioned, they are not to be regarded as entirely 
unworthy of attention. Sir J. Mackintosh observes, in his 
History of England, that '* the credit of the Welsh poems 
called * Triads ' has been unduly abated by some in conse- 
quence of injudicious attempts to exaggerate their anti- 
quity. . . . They are certainly the work of an early age ; 
and parts of them, if we had the means of distinguishing, 
would probably be found to be of an origin not much less 
than has been claimed for the whole. — Vol. I. p. 85. 



4 Introduction. 

code of laws framed by Ethelbert, king of Kent 
A.D. 561-616, which is the oldest European 
CODE extant in any modern or 'barbarous* lan- 
guage. Next occur the laws of Hlothaere and 
Eadric, A.D. 673-685, and of Wihtraed, a.d. 690- 
725, also kings of Kent.* 

To these succeed the laws of Ina, king of the 
West Saxons A.D. 688-725, and those of Alfred, 
Edward the Elder, Athelstan, Edmund, Edgar, 
Ethelred ; and the code of Canute^ which embodied 
with improvements most of the provisions in the 
codes of his predecessors. This monarch has been 
celebrated for his justice and equity ; and, when in 
the person of Edward the Confessor the crown was 
restored to the line of Cerdic, the "Anglo-Saxoa 
monarch was required by the clergy and nobility of 
the nation to engage that the laws of the Danish 
king should be inviolably observed. Hence the 
older body of laws acquired the name of the Laws 
of the Confessor, not because he enacted them, but 
because they received a new and efficient sanction 
from his authority ."t 



* The laws of the Kentish kings are contained in the 
Textus Roffensis, a manuscript preserved in the Library of 
the Dean and Chapter of Rochester, and compiled under 
the direction of Emulf, bishop of that see from 1115 to 
1 125, They have been published by Hearne. 

$ Palgrave's Rise and Progress of the English Common- 
wealth, part I^ 48. 



Introduction. 5 

Of the legislation of William I. the principal por- 
tion extant is contained in a statute or capitulary 
agreed upon in an assembly of the principal persons 
of the realm, held about the year 1070. On this 
occasion the English, with one accord, demanded 
the restoration of the laws and customs which had 
prevailed in the days of the Confessor — ** not re- 
ferring, as was afterwards supposed, to any code or 
statute which the Confessor had penned or granted, 
but demanding the laws which had subsisted 
under the last legitimate king of Anglo-Saxon 
race."* The statute framed in accordance with 
this demand bears the following title : " These are 
the laws and customs which King William granted 
to the people of England after the conquest of the 
country ; being the same which King Edward, his 
cousin, held before him." The text of this body of 
laws is in the Latin and Romance languages ; and 
both versions are given, with a learned commen- 
tary, by Sir Francis Palgrave, and also in the 
** Ancient Laws and Institutes of England," pub- 
lished by the Record Commission. This document 
must be considered as the principal source,.t 
whereby the written Anglo-Saxon Law was first 
diffused into the Common Law.^I 

* Palgrave's Rise and Progress, I. 54, 55. 
•y Ibid. Proofs and Illustrations, Ixxxviii. 
X The Law of England is divided into two kinds, the /€x 



6 Introduction. 

Domesday Book, compiled in the reign of Wil- 
liam I., though not strictly belonging to legislation, 
may be mentioned here, as one of the most ancient 
records of England, and the Register from which 
judgment was to be given upon the value, tenure, 
and services of the lands therein described. It 
contains an account of all the lands of England, 
except the four northern counties, from a survey 
taken by order of the king, and describes particu- 
larly the quantity and value of them, with the 
names of their possessors. The original manu- 
script, in two volumes, is preserved in the Chapter 
House at Westminster, and the work has been 
made public by order of the House of Lords, 
having been printed with types resembling the ori- 
ginal in 1783, in two volumes, folio. An Index was 
published by the Record Commission in 18 16, 
and a supplemental volume in 181 7. A valuable 
Introduction, with Indexes of the names of tenants, 
and numerous notes and illustrations by Sir Henry 

scripta (as contained in the Statutes or Acts of Parliament) 
and the lex non xcripta, or unwritten law, forming the com- 
mon or municipal laws of the kingdom. By the Common 
I^w, which includes not only general, but also particular 
laws and customs, the proceedings and determinations in 
the king's ordinary courts of justice are directed and 
guided. These laws are not merely traditional, but are 
extant in the records of the several courts, in the reports of 
judicial .decisions, treatises, &c. preserved from aacient 
times. See Sir Matthew Hale and Blackstone. 



Introduction. 7 

Ellis, was published in 1833, ^^ ^^^ volumes 
8vo.* 

The code of laws ascribed to Henry I., though, 
not believed to. have been compiled by authority, 
"preserves many fragments of Anglo-Saxon law, 
of which traces nowhere else are known to exist, 
either in original or translation.'* t With this code 
or treatise, a transcript of which is deposited in the 
Exchequer, the era of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence 
is said to be terminated. Henry I. acquired the 
surname of " The Lion of Justice," from his suc- 
cessful exertions in abolishing the system of rapine 
prevalent among the aristocracy. This was effected 
by subjecting the great proprietors of land to the 
supreme government of the law, and by enforcing 
with vigour the adjudications of his court of jus- 
tice-t 

The laws of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs were 
first collected by William Lambard, an eminent 
lawyer and antiquary in the time of Queen Eliza- 

* During 4ie last few years fac-si miles of this ancient 
record, in separate counties, reproduced by the photo- 
zincographic process, have been published under the direc- 
tion of Colonel Sir Henry James, at the Ordnance Survey 
Office ; and a literal extension, with an English translation, 
has been published of several counties. 

+ Preface to "Ancient Laws of England,'* by Mr. 
^horpe, p. XV. 8vo. 

X Sharon Turner's History of England. 



8 Introduction. 

beth, and published under the title of Archaionomia 
in 1568, 4to. They were afterwards published by 
Abraham Whelock, Professor of Arabic in the Uni- 
versity of Cambridge, in 1644, folio ; again, with 
additions, by Dr. Wilkins, in 1721, folio ; and more 
recently by the Record Commission, with a Preface 
by the late Mr. Benjamin Thorpe, who was emin- 
ently distinguished by his knowledge of the Anglo- 
Saxon language. 

A few fragments of legislation in the troubled 
reign of Stephen are preserved by Sir Henry Spel- 
man in his " Codex Legum '* appended to Dr. Wil- 
kins* edition of the Anglo-Saxon Laws. 

The reign of Henry II. is distinguished by the 
enactment of the " Constitutions of Clarendon " (so 
called from the palace of Clarendon, in Wiltshire, 

* This edition was printed in 1840, in folio, and also in 
two volumes, 8vo. An edition of these laws was also pub- 
lished at Leipzig in 1832, and again in 1858, 8vo, with a 
translation into German and notes by Dr. Reinhold Schmid, 
Professor of Law at Jena. The first edition by Lambard 
does not contain the laws of the kings of Kent, nor those of 
William I. and Henry I. ; that by Professor Whelock con- 
tains the laws of William and Henry ; and in the edition of 
Dr. Wilkins, the laws of the Kentish kings appear for the ' '' 

first time, and to these is added Spelman's Codex Legum 
Veterum Statutorum Regni Angliae, containing the laws from 
William I. to 9 Henry III, The laws of Canute, edited 
from the Colbert MS., with observations by the learned 
Jan. Laur. Andr. Kolderup-Rosenvinge, were printed at 
Copenhagen in 1826. 410. 



«. 



Introduction. 9 

where the council or parliament was held), by which 
a check was placed on the pretensions and en- 
croachments of the clergy.* Justices itinerant were 
also 6rst appointed in this reign, and great improve- 
ments made in the municipal laws. It is said of 
this monarch, that " his exactness in administering 
justice had gained him so great a reputation, that 
even foreign and distant princes made him an 
arbiter, and submitted their differences to his 
judgment, "t 

The oldest treatise extant on the laws of England 
was compiled in this reign, and has been generally 
attributed to Ranulph de Glanville, chief justiciary 
of England, but there is much controversy respect- 
ing the authorship. Another treatise, entitled 
** Dialogus de Scaccario,'' which contributed greatly 
to illustrate the state and history of our law, was 
also compiled in this reign. It is attributed by Mr. 
Madox to Richard Fitz-Nigel, Bishop of London. 

The celebrated code of maritime laws known by 
the name of the " Laws of Oleron," and adopted by 
most of the nations of Europe, has been often ad- 



• The " Constitutions of Clarendon " are to be found in 
Wilkins' Concilia, I. 435 ; Spelmanni Concilia, II. 63 ; and 
in Matth. Paris. Hist. 84, edit. 1684. There is also an English 
translation in Lyttelton's Life of Henry H., vol. iv. 31. 83. 

t Hale's Hist, of the Common Law. — Note by Mr. Ser- 
jeant Runnington, 163. 



Id Introduction. 

duced as a specimen of the legislative capacity of 
Richard I., being supposed to have been compiled 
by that prince in the island of Oleron, in the bay 
of Aquitaine, on his return from the Holy Land. 
This statement, repeated by most legal historians 
from Coke and Selden till a recent period, is mani- 
festly disproved by the well-known fact of Richard's 
shipwreck and captivity, and the evidence of his 
return to his own dominions, on his liberation, by 
way of Flanders. In the Introduction to the " Black 
Book of the Admiralty," the text of which has 
lately^been printed among the historical publications 
of the Master of the Rolls, a suggestion is made by 
the learned editor, Sir Travers Twiss, in his exami- 
nation of the arguments relating to the tradition, 
that the proper construction of a certain document 
or memorandum in the Roll, entitled "Fasciculus de 
Superioritate Maris," hitherto relied upon in sup- 
port of the tradition, is probably this — ^viz., that 
King Richard I., upon his return to England from 
the Holy Land, sanctioned those judgments which 
had been previously published at Oleron, as rules 
proper to be observed by the admirals of his fleet 
for the punishment of delinquencies and the redress 
of wrongs committed on the seas.* Other speci- 



* The Black Book of the Admiralty, edited by Sir 
Travers Twiss, 8vo. 1871. Introd. p. Iviii. In this edition 



Introduction. i i 

mens of the legislation of this monarch may be 
found in the work of Sir H. Spelman before men- 
tioned. 

Magna Charta is of itself sufficient to confer 
celebrity on the reign of John in the annals of 
legislation ; yet it is not to that Great Charter as 
originally promulgated, but as confirmed by his 
successor, Henry III., and afterwards by Edward 
I., that reference is made as the " palladium of 
liberty," and the basis of our laws and constitution. 
Sir James Mackintosh, in his animated eulogium 
on ^he Great Charter and its authors,* says : — "To 
have produced it, to have preserved it, to have 
matured it, constitute the immortal claim of Eng- 
land on the esteem of mankind. Her Bacons and 
Shakespeares,her Mil^pns and Newtons, with all the 
truth which they have revealed, and all the generous 
virtue which they have inspired, are of inferior 
value when compared with the subjection of men 
and their rulers to the principles of justice ; if. 



the Laws of Oleron are printed, with the ancient English 
translation of these judgments, contained in a very rare 
book, called "The Rutter of the Sea," printed at London in 
1536. The English version of these laws in Godolphin's 
*'View of the Admiral Jurisdiction," is translated from ** Le 
Grant Routier de la Mer," published by Pierre Garcie alias 
Ferrande, and contains many more articles than that in the 
'• Black Book," from which it differs in several respects. 
* History of England, I. 222. 



12 Introduction. 

indeed, it be not more true that these mighty 
spirits could not have been formed except under 
equal laws, nor roused to full activity without the 
influence of that spirit which the Great Charter 
breathed over their forefathers." The same author's 
remarks on the language of the Charter are also 
worthy of notice : — " It is observable that the lan- 
guage of the Great Charter is simple, brief, general 
without being abstract, and expressed in terms 
of authority, not of argument, yet commonly so 
reasonable as to carry with it the intrinsic evidence 
of its own fitness. It was understood by the 
simplest of the unlettered age for whom it was 
intended. It was remembered by them ; and though 
they did not perceive the extensive consequences 
which might be derived fronuit, their feelings were, 
however unconsciously, exalted by its generality 
and grandeur.'* 

In the first year of Henry III., A.D. 1216, the 
charter of King John was confirmed, renewed in the 
succeeding year, with several remarkable additions 
and improvements, and again confirmed in the 
ninth year of his reign. The Charter of the Forest 
was also granted at the commencement of this 
reign ; another confirmation of both charters in 
the twenty-first, and another in the forty-ninth 
year. 

The final and complete establishment of the two 



Introduction. 13^ 

charters,* which had undergone many changes, and 
had been often endangered, took place in the 29th 
year of Edward I., having been established, con- 
firmed, and commanded to be put into execution by 
thirty-two several acts of parliament.f 

In the reign of Henry III, appeared the Treatise 
of Bracton on the Laws of England, exhibiting " a 
great advance of the law over that of Glanville." 
This work is attributed to Henry de Bracton, who 
was formerly supposed to have been Chief Justice 
of England in this reign ; but it is now believed 
that he was a Doctor of Laws, who delivered lec- 
tures in the University of Oxford, and sat once as 
justice itinerant.^ 



• A copy of the charter was anciently deposited in every 
county or diocese. Two of the original charters of John are 
preserved in the British Museum, having been formerly in 
the Cottonian Library. The original of the charter of i 
Henry III. is in the Cathedral of Durham, with the seals of 
Gualo the legate, and William, Earl of Pembroke, the great 
seal of King John having been lost in passing the washes of 
Lincolnshire, and a new seal not made till two years after. 
The original of the first Charter of the Forest is lost ; that of 
the second, 9 Henry IIL, is in the cathedral of Durham. 
Originals of several of the charters remain in public libraries ; 
and of the last confirmation 29 Edw. I, , an original is in the 
Bodleian library, one in the library of Christ Church, Oxford, 
and four manuscripts were foimd by Prynne in the Tower of 
I/>ndon. 

+ Sir E. Coke, s Inst. Proem. 

:|; Penny Cyclopaedia, art. Bracton« 



14 Introduction. 

In the reign of Edward I., so great and rapid was 
the improvement made in legislation, and in the 
settlement of the administration of justice, that this 
monarch has obtained the distinctive appellation of 
the " English Justinian." But the propriety of the 
title is in the present day much questioned ; for, as 
is observed by Lord Campbell, " the Roman Em- 
peror merely caused a compilation to be made of 
existing laws,"* whereas the attention of Edward 
was directed " to correct abuses, to supply defects, 
and to remodel the administration of justice." 
" But if he is to be denominated the English Jus- 
tinian," observes the same noble author, ** it should 
be made known who were the Tribonians employed 
by him ; and the English nation owes a debt of grati- 
tude to the Chancellors, who must have framed and 
revised the statutes which are the foundation of our 
judicial system — who must, by explanation and 
argument, have obtained for them the sanction of 
parliament — and who must have watched over their 
construction and operation when they first passed 
into law." His lordship attributes much of the 
merit of the reforms and improvements made by 
Edward in the law to his Chancellor, Robert Burnel, 
who had been his chaplain and secretary while 
Prince of Wales, and attended him in his expe- 

* Lives of the Chancellors, I. 165. 



Introduction. 15 

dition to the Holy Land. By Professor Savigny 
it is thought probable that King Edward was also 
assisted in his reforms by Franciscus Accursii, law 
professor and lecturer at Bologna, who came over 
to England, and was much employed in state affairs. 

No statutes of great importance were passed in 
the reign of Edward II., and with this reign closes 
the series of what are termed the Ancient Statutes 
in the early printed collections commencing with 
Magna Charta. 

From the reign of Edward III. the acts of the 
legislature have been more carefully preserved than 
in former periods, and may be found in the Statute- 
book, the compilation of which now assumed a more 
correct and regular form, in a continued series 
down to the present time ; and here it may be ob- 
served, in conclusion, that a firm foundation having 
been laid by the authors of Magna Charta, the 
fabric of English liberty,>gradually cemented by the 
labour of successive ages, though exposed to many 
assaults and sometimes in much peril, attained its 
completion by the framing of the Bill of Rights and 
the Act of Succession, as expressed in the words of 
the poet : — 

" And now, behold ! exalted as the cope 

That swells immense o'er many-peopled earth, 

And like it free, my fabric stands complete, 

The palace of the laws." 

Thomson. 



i6 Introduction. 

With respect to the origin of the Inns of Court, 
the researches of legal historians have failed to 
ascertain the precise date of their foundation. They 
have not been incorporated by charter, but are 
'* voluntary societies, which for ages have sub- 
mitted to government, analogous to that of other 
seminaries of learning."* In the thirteenth century, 
when the clergy, who were forbidden by episcopal 
canons to practise as advocates in the temporal 
courts, had withdrawn to the Universities of Ox- 
ford and Cambridge, where they could pursue 
their study of the canon and civil law, the profes- 
sors of the municipal, or common law, to which the 
laity adhered, were brought together in one place, 
in consequence of a provision of Magna Charta, 
which established the Court of Common Pleas. 
The supreme court of justice, having been always 
held in the aula regis, or hall of the king's palace, 
was bound to attend the j)erson of the sovereign 
in whatever part of his dominions he might happen 
to be resident ; and it was then ordained by an 
article of the charter that common pleas should no 
longer follow the king's court, but be held in some 
certain place. A separate court was thus estab- 
lished, and judges appointed, for the determination 



* Lord Mansfield's Judgment in the case of The King v. 
Grays Inn, Douglas, 354. 



Introduction. 17 

of pleas of land and all civil causes between subject 
and subject, and this court being fixed, or rendered 
stationary, in Westminster Hall, the professors of 
the common law formed themselves into societies, 
and established themselves in convenient places 
between Westminster and the City of London ; and 
before the end of the reign of Edward III. these 
societies appear to have divided themselves into the 
several inns or colleges of Lincoln's Inn, the Inner 
Temple, the Middle Temple, and Gray's Inn, having 
obtained tenements either by grant or purchase. In 
the Year Book of the 29th Edward III. there is ex- 
press mention of the apprentices (a term given to pro- 
fessors of the law) in the Inns of Court.* The term 
Inn formerly denoted the residence of a nobleman, 
and these legal colleges are said by Fortescue to 
have been called " Inns of Court," because the stu- 
dents therein did not only study the law, but used 
such other exercises as might make them more 
serviceable to the king's court But the derivation 
seems more probably to have arisen from their 
being places of study preparatory to practising in 
the courts of law, anciently held in the aula regis^ 
or hall of the king's palace. 

In the earliest times the Inns of Court were filled 
with the sons of the aristocracy, who were sent 
thither not so much for the purpose of acquiring 

* The Inns of Chancery will be spoken of in a future page. 

B 



1 8 Introduction. 

proficiency in the law as for the sake of mental 
discipline; and the expensive style of living in 
these legal seminaries was of itself sufficient to 
confine them exclusively to this class of students. 
At a later period also, there was an order made by 
King James I. in the first year of his reign, signed 
by Sir £. Coke, Lord Bacon, and other persons, 
that " none be from thenceforth admitted into the 
society of any House of Court that is not a gentle- 
man by descent." 

In the reign of Henry VI. there were from eighteen 
hundred to two thousand students in the Inns of 
Court and Chancery — about one hundred in each 
of the Inns of Chancery, of which there were ten at 
that time, and two hundred in each of the Inns of 
Court. At present, the number of members of the 
four Inns of Court is upwards of eight thousand, 
nearly six thousand of these being barristers, and 
the rest students. 

There are three ranks or degrees among the 
members of the Inns of Court : Benchers, Baris- 
ters, and Students. The Benchers are the superiors 
of each house, to whom the government of its affairs 
is committed,* and out of the number one annually 
fills the office of Treasurer. There was formerly 

* Many ordinances relating to dress and other matters 
are extant in the registers of Lincoln's Inn, and fines and 
other penalties were imposed for transgression. 



Introduction. 19 

a distinction between utter and inner barristers, 
and there seems to be some perplexity as to the 
meaning of the terms, which are variously explained 
by different writers. Blount, in his Law Diction- 
ary, published in 1679, says : " They are called 
Utter Barristers, that is. Pleaders without the Bar, 
to distinguish them from Benchers, or those who 
have been Readers, who are sometimes admitted 
to plead within the bar, as the King, Queen, or 
Prince's counsel are.*' This definition has been 
adopted in most of the Law Dictionaries, but the 
details of proceedings given by Sir W. Dugdale, 
who does not allude to the etymology of the word, 
lead to the inference that it is derived from local 
arrangements in the halls of the Inns of Court. It 
seems that the term "Utter Barrister," which 
occurs for the first time in the reign of Henry VIII., 
was a title conferred on those who, after five or six 
years' study in the house, had been called upon to 
argue some disputed case b^ore the Benchers. In 
the year 1596 the term of study was extended to 
seven years, and the number to be called in each 
house was limited to four in a year. The degree, 
when .obtained, did not of itself give the person 
holding it the privilege of pleading at the bar of 
the supreme courts of law. Persons under the 
degree of utter barrister were called " No Utter 
Barrister ; '' but that designation seems to have ' 



20 Introduction. 

been discontinued before the year 1574, when the 
term " Inner Barrister " was used as synonymous 
with student It is also stated by l!)ugdale that 
"the Benchers are those Utter-Barristers which, 
after they have continued in the house by the space 
of fourteen or fifteen years, are by the elders of the 
house chosen to read, expound, and declare some 
estatute openly unto all the company of the house, 
in one of the two principal times of their learning, 
which they call the grand vacations in summer ; 
and during the time of his reading he hath the 
name of a Reader, and after of Bencher.'* * 

Meetings were questions on doubtful points of 
law argued before the Reader between certain of 
the Benchers and Barristers in the hall. There 
was also another exercise in the Inns of Court 
called boltings which was a private arguing of 
cases by some of the students and barristers. 
The word has been supposed to be derived from 
the Saxon bolt^ a house, because the exercise was 
done privately in the house for instruction, or 
rather from bolter^ a sieve — in reference to the 
sifting and debating of cases. 

The course of legal education at the Inns of 
Court consisted principally of readings and moot- 
ings, which have been described by Dugdale, Stow, 

* Dugdale's Orig. Jurid. 194, 312. Foss's Judges of 
England, vol. v. 108. 424. 



Introduction. 21 

and other writers. In times when the works of the 
learned, existing only in manuscript, and guarded 
in libraries with jealous care, were not easily ac- 
cessible to the student, the necessity of oral instruc- 
tion by such exercises is obvious* The readings, 
delivered in the hall with great solemnity by men 
experienced in the profession, were expositions of 
some important statute or section of a statute. 
Many of them have been published, and some of 
these contain most profound juridical arguments, 
such for instance as Lord Bacon's Reading on the 
Statute of Uses, and that of Mr Serjeant Callis 
on the Statute of Sewers. These readings being 
attended with costly entertainments, their original 
object was forgotten in the splendour of the tables, 
and it became the duty of the Reader rather to 
feast the nobility and gentry than to give instruc- 
tion in the principles of the law. From this cause 
they were eventually suspended ; but after the 
lapse of nearly a century readings were revived in 
Gray's Inn, by Danby Pickering, Esq., in 1780-; 
in Lincoln's Inn, by Michael Nolan, Esq., in 1796 ; 
and in 1799 ^^^ lectures delivered by Sir James 
Mackintosh, on the Law of Nature and Nations, 
"filled the hall of Lincoln's Inn with an auditory such 
as never before was seen on a similar occasion."* 

♦ " All classes were there represented — lawyers, members 



22 Introduction. 

As during the last few years the important sub- 
ject of legal education has excited much interest in 
the public mind, as well as among the members of 
the profession, a brief statement of the steps which 
have lately been taken for the promotion of this 
object may not be inappropriate in this place. In 
the year 1833 lectureships were instituted by the 
Society of the Inner Temple, but so thin was the 
attendance thereon, that they were given up after 
two years. In 1847 the experiment was again 
tried, and lectures were established by the Socie- 
ties of the Middle Temple and Gray's Inn, which 
continued till the year 1851, when the several 
Inns of Court came to an agreement ; and, having 
appointed a Council of Legal Education, adopted 
certain regulations which, with some slight varia- 
tions, have been maintained until the promul- 
gation of the new schen^, which will be presently 
noticed. Under these regulations lectures were 
established, at which the attendance of the students 
was made compulsory, except in the case of 
those who should submit themselves to voluntary 
examination. 

In the year 1854 a Royal Commission was 
appointed " to inquire into the arrangements of the 



of Parliament, men of letters, and country gentlemen, 
crowded to hear him." — Life of Mackintosh^ I. 107. 



Introduction. 23 

Inns of Court and Inns of Chancery for promoting 
the study of the law and jurisprudence.'' Among 
many other suggestions made in the Report of these 
Commissioners, it was recommended that examina- 
tions should be required for the call to the bar, and 
that, for the purpose of these examinations and of 
conferring degrees, the four Inns of Court should 
be united in one University, the constituent mem- 
bers of which should be "the Chancellor, Bar- 
risters-at-Law, and Masters of Law." The recom- 
mendations of the Commission have not been acted 
upon, except that by a resolution of the four Inns 
of Court, the principle of compulsory examination 
has been adopted. 

In Michaelmas Term 1869, " Consolidated Re- 
gulations of the four Inns of Court " were issued by 
their authority ; and in December 1871, the prin- 
ciple of compulsory examination, as already men- 
tioned, was adopted. In July 1872, a scheme was 
promulgated by the Council of Legal Education, 
by which it was provided that a permanent Com- 
mittee of eight . members should be appointed 
by the Council, to be called the Committee of 
Education and Examination, and that the Com- 
mittee, subject to the control of the Council, 
should superintend and direct the examination of 
students; that the students should be provided 
with the means of education in the general 



24 Introduction. 

principles of law, and in the law as practically 
administered in this country, for which purpose 
instruction should be given by means of lectures 
and private classes, but that tlie attendance of 
students on such lectures and classes should not be 
compulsory ; that there should be a board of six 
Examiners, to be appointed by, and to hold office 
during the pleasure of the Council ; and that no 
person should receive from the Council the certilfi- 
cate of fitness for call to the bar required by the 

» 

Inns of Court, unless he should have passed a 
satisfactory examination in the following subjects, 
viz. — I. Roman Civil Law ; 2. The Law of Real 
and Personal Property ; 3. Common Law and 
Equity.* 

It is further provided by this scheme that, as an 
encouragement for the study of Jurisprudence and 
Civil Law, twelve studentships of one hundred 
guineas each be established.t 

The Benchers of the four Inns of Court have 
subsequently passed the following resolution : — 
That, in the opinion of this Bench, it is expedient 



* In June 1871, an order was made by the Society of the 
Inner Temple, that a sum of ;f 2000 a year should be devoted 
to the payment of additional lecturers and tutors for the 
exclusive benefit of students of that Ihn, 

f For the full details of the scheme, see the printed copies 
issued by the Council. 



Introduction. 25 

that the Council of Legal Education be authorised, 
if they think fit, to admit persons not being mem- 
bers of any Inn of Court to attend lectures of the 
professors appointed under the new scheme, subject 
to such regulations, and to the payment of such 
fees as the Council of Legal Education may make 
and impose. 

Before quitting this subject, it may be proper to 
notice another movement that has been made in 
the profession, an association having been formed, 
in the year 1870, "for the purpose of obtaining a 
better orgsftiised system of legal education in this 
country." This Association comprised some of the 
most eminent members of both branches of the 
profession, barristers, and attorneys or solicitors, 
under the presidency of Sir Roundell Palmer 
(now Lord Selbome), and adopted the name of 
"the Legal Education Association.'* Several meet- 
ings have been held by this body, and they declare 
as their principle " the establishment of a central 
school of law, open to students for both branches 
of the profession and to the public, and governed 
by a public and responsible board." * 

As considerable misapprehension has existed in 
some quarters respecting the precedence of the 

* During the year 1871, public Law Schools were estab- 
lished at Manchester and liverpooL 



26 Introduction. 

• 

different members of the Bar, whether in Court 
or elsewhere, I was induced to make application 
to Mr Greaves, Q-C, knowing that he was 
familiar with matters of legal antiquity, for any 
information on the subject he might be willing to 
give ; and this gentleman, after a careful consider- 
ation of the authorities, has drawn up the following 
statement, in order to place the matter in a clear 
light, and has kindly permitted me to introduce it 
into this work, the limits of which precluded any 
reference to the early history of the Bar, containing 
so much that is curious and interesting,* except 
in such points as might throw light on the present 
state of things. 

The degree of Serjeant-at-Law is the most 
ancient, and formerly was the highest in the Law. 
The future Serjeant was required by the King's 
writ to take the office ; and in former times his 
admission to it was attended with much ceremony, 
and with very costly entertainments. But these 
have passed away ; whilst the ancient custom of 
presenting golden rings, with mottoes, to the Sove- 



* For such inforaiation the reader may consult Dugdale's 
Origines Juridiciales, Manning's Serjeant's Case, Wynne 
on the Antiquity and Degree of Serjeants-at-Law, Foss's 
Judges of England, &c. 



Introduction. 27 

reign, the Lord Chancellor, the Judges, and others, 
still remains.*^ On his creation, the new Serjeant 
quits his Inn of Court, receiving a purse of ten 
guineas as a retaining fee on its behalf, and becomes 
a member of Serjeants' Inn, 

Down to the year 1834, the Serjeants had exclu- 
sive audience in the Court of Common Pleas ; but 
that Court was then thrown open to all the Bar, 
and the Serjeants of that day were granted pre- 
cedence next after the then last King's Counsel 

Formerly, the Serjeants were not admitted within 
the bar of the Courts of King's Bench and Ex- 
chequer during term time ; but this privilege has 
recently been granted to them. 

Of the Serjeants, one was formerly created the 
King's Premier Serjeant by special patent, and 
others were created King's Serjeants ; and the 
senior of these was called " The King's Ancient 
Serjeant." All the Serjeants formerly ranked be- 
fore the Attorney and Solicitor-General ;t but 



♦ With regard to the coif and dress worn by the Serjeants 
on occasions of ceremony, some curious and quaint obser- 
vations made by Lord Chief Justice Popham on their sig- 
nification may be found in his Reports, p. 45. 

f This precedence made it necessary for a Serjeant to be 
discharged of his office before he could be made Solicitor or 
Attorney-General. See the discharge of Serjeant Fleming, 
who was not a Queen's Serjeant, in Nichols* Progresses of 
Q. Elizabeth III. 370. 



28 Introduction. 

James I.^ in 1623, granted them rank next after 
the two most ancient King's Serjeants ; and this 
precedence continued until 1814, when George 
III. granted them precedence before all the King's 
Serjeants.* 

At one time, it was considered that the King's 
Advocate-General had precedence of the Attorney- 
General ; but his precedency is now after jthe At- 
torney-General 

The Lord Advocate of Scotland also at one time 
claimed precedence of the Attorney- General ; but 
his claim was not allowed. It was admitted^ how- 
ever, that he ranked before the Solicitor-GeneraL 

Queen's Counsel rank next after the Queen's 
Serjeants, if there are any ; otherwise next after the 
Solicitor-General. 

Sometimes a patent of precedence is granted to 
a Serjeant or Barrister, and the patent specifies 
the rank it gives, which is usually next after the 
then last Queen's Counsel.+ 

The Attorney and Solicitor- General, the Queen's 



* This promotion was obtained by Sir S. Shepherd, in 
order to prevent his discharge from the office of King's 
Seijeant, when he was appointed Solicitor-General Ex 
relatione Manning, Q. A. S., and see 2 Maule and Selw, 
Rep. 253, 

+ In Cro. Car. 376, there is an instance of a King's 
Counsel being given prec^ence of a Solicitor-General. 



Introduction. 29 

Serjeants, and Queen's Counsel, are sworn to do 
their duty to the Crown, and consequently they 
cannot act in any case against the Crown without a 
special licence ; which, however, is rarely refused. 
Other Serjeants are merely sworn to do their duty 
to their clients, and Counsel holding patents of 
precedence, are not sworn at all ; and both may act 
against the Crown. 

When the Sovereign is a King, the Attorney and 
Solicitor- General of the Queen rank with the 
King's Counsel 

The Recorder of London ranks after the Ser- 
jeants ; and the Advocates of the civil law after 
the Recorder, and lastly come Barristers. 

With regard to the precedence of Serjeants out 
of court, neither the writ by which they are created, 
nor the oath which they take, affords any assistance. 
The writ simply requires the counsel to take upon 
himself "the state and degree of a Serjeant-at 
law;" and the oath is truly to "serve the king's 
people as one of the Serjeants-at-law." Their 
rank, however, is certainly considerable. It does 
not seem certain whether in former times all Ser- 
jeants were summoned to attend the House of 
Lords ; but King's Serjeants have always been so 
summoned ; and Serjeant Manning, the last Queen's 
Serjeant, regularly attended the House accordingly. 
In former times Serjeants were ranked after Knights 



30 Introduction. 

Bachelors in some royal processions, but at Lord 
Nelson's and Mr Pitt's funerals, they were ranked 
before them.* 

Queen's Counsel rank before Serjeants both in 
court and elsewhere. Sir F. Bacon was the first 
Queen's Counsel, and he was created (as Privy 
Councillors are) merely by the nomination of Queen 
Elizabeth :t but in the beginning of the reign of 
James I. he was created King's Counsel by patent, 
with precedence " in our courts or elsewhere " [in 
ouriis nostris vel alibi] ; and the same form of 
creation has continued ever since. It is clear, 
therefore, that the precedence of Queen's Counsel 
prevails everywhere. 

Since the preceding paragraph was written, one of 
the Queen's Counsel has been appointed a Justice of 
the Peace ; and the opinion of the present Lord 
Chancellor (Lord Selbome) having been asked by 
the officers of the Crown Office as to where the 
Queen's Counsel's name ought to be placed in the 
Commission of the Peace, his lordship replied that 
Queen's Counsel ought to have precedence every- 
whwe. 
Ever since the patents have been in English, the 



* See 9 Carrington and P. 372. 

t Ratione verbi Regii EUzabethx. Recital in Bacon's 
Patent, 2jac. I. 



Introduction. 31 

words of the appointment of a Queen's Counsel have 
been, " one of our Council " [not Counsel] " learned 
in the law." Lord Cranworth, when Chancellor, 
wished the word Council to be altered in future to 
Counsel ; but Lord Lyndhurst was of opinion that 
Council was correct, and no alteration was made; and 
Lord Lyndhurst was clearly right ; for the words are 
a translation of part of Bacon's patent, which runs 
— " appunctuamus Franciscum Bacon consiliarium 
nostrum ad legem, sive unum de consilio nostro 
erudito in lege ;" where consiliarius means Counsel, 
and consilium means a Council — /.^., a body of 
persons appointed to advise the king. So that 
Bacon was appointed King's "Counsel at Law," and 
also '* one of the Council learned in the law." It 
is commonly supposed that the words " learned in 
the law" apply to the Counsel appointed by the 
patent ; but this is an error ; they refer to the 
Council of the king ; for the word erudito agrees 
with consilio^ and cannot refer to Franciscum 
Bacon in his patent ; and the English word must 
have a similar reference.* 

Lord Halet tells us that, the consilium ordi- 



♦ It is to be remarked that the patents now have no 
words that can represent consiliarium ad legem ; but the 
Counsel is simply appointed "one of our Council learned 
in the law." 

+ Jurisdiction of the Lords House, or Parliament, p. 6. 



32 Introduction. 

narium of the king included, amongst others, *' the 
Judges of both Benches, Barons of the Exchequer, 
Masters in Chancery, the King's Serjeant and 
Attorney-General ; and from the mixture, of those 
it was many times called legale Consilium!* Now 
legale Consilium, the legal Council, and Consilium 
eruditum in lege, the Council learned in the law, 
are such similar names, that it seems very probable 
that the Council mentioned in Bacon's patent was 
the Council described by Lord Hale. 

Formerly King's Counsel were sometimes sum- 
moned to attend the House of Lords. 

The names of Queen's Counsel and Serjeants, 
who are Justices of the Peace, are placed, in 
their proper rank amongst themselves, next after 
Knights Bachelors, and before Doctors of Divinity 
and other Esquires, in the Conmiission of the 
Peace. 

No dignity or title confers any rank at the Bar. 
A Privy Councillor, a Peer's son, a Baronet, a 
Speaker of the House of Commons, and a Knight, 
merely rank at the Bar according to their legal 
precedence. 

Our remarks on these subjects are necessarily 
confined to England. 



*See Croke, Jac. I. a. 



Introduction. 33 

The Inns of Court are four in number : viz., the 
Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn, 
and Gray's Inn. There are also several inferior 
Inns, called Inns of Chancery, which were formerly 
under the control of the Inns of Court with respect 
to legal education, and students were required to 
pass some time here previous to admission into the 
Inns of Court ; and these Inns comprised not only 
such students, but also the whole body of attorneys 
and solicitors. At present admission to the Inns 
of Chancery is of no avail as regards the time and 
attendance required by the Inris of Court. They 
appear in the time of Fortescue to have been ten 
in number, but are now reduced to seven ; three 
of these — ^viz., Clifford's Inn, Clement's Inn, and 
Lyon's Inn— are or have been in connection with 
the Inner Temple; New Inn belongs to the Middle 
Temple ; Furnival's Inn to Lincoln's Inn ; and 
Staple Inn and Barnard's Inn are or have been in 
connection with Gray's Inn. Thavie's Inn, which 
formerly belonged to the Society of Lincoln's Inn, 
was sold in 1769 to Mr. Middleton. 



C. 




CHAPTER II. 

Early History. The Old Buildings. The Gate- 
house. The Old Hall. The Chapel. New 
Square. The Stone Building. The Gardens. 

,H£ contemplation of buildings and places 
associated with the memory of departed 
worth or genius has been interesting to 
the reflecting portion of mankind in all ages and 
countries. It is admitted that " whatever withdraws 
us from the power of our senses ; whatever makes 
the past, the distant, or the future predominate 
over the present, advances us in the dignity of 
thinking beings." The prevalence of this feeling 
is attested by the visits paid to many a spot conse- 
crated to fame by genius, both in foreign climes 
and in our own land. For the lawyer, it may be 
imagined that the buildings of the Inns of Court, 
fraught with a thousand reminiscences of the 
glory and dignity of his profession, must possess 
peculiar interest. As he treads their courts, and 
views the memorials of the past around him — 



Early History. 35 

those old chambers, with their strange angular 
projections and winding staircases, where many a 
sage has toiled in study through the silent hours of 
night, ere he rose to eminence ; those ancient halls, 
wherein at one time was heard the grave and 
learned argument, and at another was held the 
''solemn revel," when princes, nobles, and high 
officers of state were entertained as guests ; those 
sacred edifices, with their storied windows and fine 
carved work, where so many generations of his 
illustrious predecessors have knelt and prayed ; — 
all these, as the shades of Coke, Bacon, Hale, and 
Selden, with other distinguished names, rise before 
the mental vision of the student, must kindle his 
enthusiasm, and excite him to emulation. 

Among the antiquities of London the Inns of 
Court are pre-eminent By a glance at the earlier 
maps of the metropolis, it may be seen that the 
space of ground between Temple Bar and West- 
minster was not, as in our own days, crowded with 
rows of houses, but presented a few noblemen's 
mansions, with fields and gardens interspersed ; 
and, if the imagination be carried back to 
the thirteenth century, in the neighbourhood of 
Chancery Lane, at that time named the " New 
Street, leading from the Temple to Old-bourne, 
may be observed the palace of the Bishops of 
Chichester, three of whom have held the Great 



36 Lincoln's Inn. 

Seal of England ; the mansion of Henry Lacy, 
Earl of Lincoln, the friend of K. Edward I, whom, 
while Prince of Wales, he probably accompanied 
as a crusader to Palestine ; * and the beautiful 
Church of the Knights Templars, then in all its 
pristine glory. 

At this early period of English history, the ground 
now occupied by the buildings of Lincoln's Inn was 
the site of the mansions of persons of the highest 
eminence in the state, namely, that of Ralph 
Neville, Bishop of Chichester, Lord High Chan- 
cellor of England in the reign of Henry III. ; and 
Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, Constable of Chester, 
&c. From this nobleman, distinguished by his 
regard for the professors of the law, and the friend 
of a monarch who on account of his improvement 
of the law has been named the English Justinian, 
the possessions of Lincoln's Inn have derived their 
name. It is said also that William de Haverhyll, 
Canon of St Paul's and Treasurer to king Henry 
III., had a house on this site. 

The palace built by Ralph Neville on this spot is 
described as magnificent, and in this place the 
bishop " lived in a degree of splendour, from the 
amount of his political and ecclesiastical prefer- 

* This is inferred from the cross-legged figure on his 
monument. 



Early History, 37 

ments, equal to any of his contemporary prelates." * 
It appears from the following entry on the Close 
Rolls, that the bishop possessed land on both sides 
of Chancery Lane, formerly called New Street : 
The king granted to Ralph bishop of Chichester, 
Chancellor, that place with the garden which John 
Herlirumf forfeited in that street called New 
Street, over against the land of the said bishop in 
the same street," &a t 

This prelate is much eulogised by historians for 
his admirable qualities as a judge. As Chancellor 
of England, he " behaved himself in that office to 
great commendation, being very remarkable for the 
equity and expedition of his decrees. He was a 
person of that integrity and fortitude that neither 
favour, money, or greatness could make any 
impression upon him." § The following summary 
of his character is given by Mr. Foss, in his 
accurate work on the Judges of England, vol. I. 
428 : " That Ralph de Neville was an ambitious 
man none can deny ; that he accumulated vast 
riches is equally certain ; but that he misused the 
one, or that the other led him into degrading 



♦ Dallaway's Sussex, I. 45. 

+ The name sometimes occurs as Herlicum or Herlizun. 
Ij: Cart, n Hen. III. cited in Strype's edition of Stow, 
1755, II. 68. 
§ Collier's Ecclesiastical History, I. 433. 



38 Lincoln's Inn. 

courses there is no evidence. On the contrary, the 
highest character is given to him by contemporary 
historians, not only for his fidelity to his sovereign 
in times of severe trial, but for the able and 
irreproachable administration of his office. He 
was as accessible to the poor as to the rich, and 
dealt equal justice to alL" 

Lord Campbell, though he does not give quite so 
favourable a view of the prelate's character, yet 
cites the testimony of Matthew Paris, who " speaks 
of him as one who long irreproachably discharged 
the duties of his office, and afterwards warmly 
praises him for his speedy and impartial adminis- 
tration of justice to all ranks, and more especially 
to the poor."* To Ralph Neville was also granted 
by the king the Chancellorship of Ireland, the only 
instance, it is believed, of the Chancellorship of 
England and Ireland being held at the same time 
by the same individual.t 

After the death of Neville, his mansion was 
occupied by Richard de la Wich, his successor in 
the bishopric, who was eminent for his learning, 
piety, and charity. He was engaged by Innocent 
IV. in the cause of the crusades, and was canonised 
some years after his death 5: by Pope Urban IV. 



* lives of the Chancellors, I. 133. + Ibid. I. 131. 

t Died 1253. Canonised 1262. 



Early History. 39 

At the translation of his remains in Chichester 
Cathedral 1275, king Edward I., with his court 
and many prelates, attended the ceremony. He 
was the last English prelate canonised, and his 
festival still remains in our calendar. He had also 
filled the professor*^ chair of law at Bologna. The 
old chapel of Lincoln's Inn was dedicated in his 
honour. There is a fine monument to his memory 
in Chichester Cathedral, which has been recently 
restored. The shrine of St Richard was especially 
ordered to be destroyed by the commission of 
Henry VIII. on account of the superstitious resort 
of the people, in consequence of the miracles 
attributed to the relics of the saint. 

With respect to William de Haverhyll, named 
as the owner of a mansion in this place, it is stated 
by Sir George Buck,* that a part of Lincoln's Inn 
" was of old time the messuage or mansion-house 
of a gentleman called William de Haverhyll, Trea- 
surer to king Henry III., who was attainted of 
treason and his house and lands confiscated to the 
king, who then gave his house to Ralph Neville, 
Chancellor of England, and Bishop of Chichester, 
and he built there a fair house for him and his 
successors. Bishops of Chichester,'' &c. Sir G. 



* Discourse or Treatise on the third University of Eng- 
land, appended to Stow's Annals, 1615, folio. 



40 Lincoln's Inn, 

Buck says that he is indebted for his information to 
Sir James Ley, Chief Justice of the King's Bench 
in Ireland, and one of the Benchers of Lincoln's 
Inn, afterwards Earl of Marlborough. 

This is the only account that can be found of 
William de Haverhyll as the possessor of this 
property, and the statement of his attainder is at 
variance with all that is related of him by Matthew 
Paris and other historians. He had throughout his 
life been greatly in favour with king Henry III.,* 
from whom he received various preferments, and at 
the time of his death, in 1252, life was Canon of St 
Paul's, and ** treasurer to the king, in whose service 
he had with great diligence spent many years." 
His epitaph is thus given by Matthew Paris : — 
Epitaphium Willielmi de HaverhuUe. 

Hie Willielme jaces, Protothesaurarie Regis, 
Hinc HaverhuUe gemis, non paritura talem. 

Fercula culta dabas, empyrea vina pluebas, 
A modo sit Christus cibus et esca tibi. 

In Dugdale's History of St. Paul's Cathedral is 
the following passage, and it is probable that to the 
employment of William de Haverhyll as the king's 
almoner allusion is made in the foregoing epitaph : — 

" For the celebration of the festival of the con- 



♦ Dugdale's History of St. Paul's. In Newcourt's Re- 
pertorium is a list of the successive preferments enjoyed by 
William de Haverhyll between 1228 and 1252. 



r 



I 



f 



Early History. 41 

version of St. Paul, king Henry HI. by his precept 
dated at Dover, 17th January, in the 28th year of 
his reign, and directed to William de Haverhulle, 
then lord treasurer, commanded him to feed 15,000 
poor people in St. Paul's churchyard upon that 
festival, and to provide 1500 tapers, then to be 
placed within the church ; the charge whereof to 
be allowed out of the profits of the bishoprick of 
London, at that time in the king's hands, by the 
death of Roger Niger, the late reverend bishop of 
this see." 

In the reign of Edward I. the house and grounds 
which had belonged to the ancient monastery of 
Black Friars in Holborn, upon the removal of that 
community to the quarter which now bears their 
name, were granted to Henry Lacy, Earl of Lin- 
coln, and in this place the earl built his mansion- 
house,* where he generally resided, and where 
he died in 13 12. He was interred in St. -Paurs 
Cathedral, to which he had been a great benefactor, 
and over his remains was erected a monument, 
bearing his cross-legged figure clad in mail, which 
perished in the Great Fire of London, but has been 
perpetuated by the hand of Hollar. 

" Henry de Lacy, the last and greatest man of 

♦ Dugdale's Baronage, 1. 105. Stow's London, by Strype, 
II. 70. 



42 Lincoln's Inn. 

his line . . . was the confidential servant and 
friend of Edward I., whom he seems not a little to 
have resembled in courage, activity, prudence, and 
every other quality which can adorn a soldier or 
a statesman. In 1290, he was appointed first 
commissioner for rectifying the abuses which had 
crept into the administration of justice, espe- 
cially in the court of common pleas, an office in 
which he behaved with exemplary fidelity and 
strictness." * 

In a communication read by Mr. T. Hudson 
Turner at one of the meetings of the Archaeolo- 
gical Institute, "On. the State of Horticulture 
in England in Early Times,'* are the foUowiag 
curious particulars respecting the Earl of Lincoln's 
garden : — 

"There is preserved in the office of the Duchy of 
Lancaster an account rendered by the bailiff of Henri de 
Laci, Earl of Lincoln, of the profits arising from, and the 
expenditure upon, the earl's garden in Holbom, in the 
suburbs of London, in the 24th year of Edward I. We 
learn from this curious document that apples, pears, large 
nuts, and cherries were produced in sufficient quantities, 
not only to supply the earl's table, but also to yield a 
profit by their sale. The comparatively large sum of nine 
pounds two shillings and threepence, in money of that 
time, equal to about one hundred and thirty-five pounds 
of modern currency, v/as received in one year from the 

♦ Whitaker's Hist, of Whalley, i8i8, p. 179. 



Early History. 43 

sale of those fruits alone. The vegetables cultivated in 
this garden were beans, onions, garlic, leeks, and some 
others, which are not specifically named. Hemp was also 
grown there, and some description of plant which yielded 
verjuice, possibly sorreL Cuttings of the vines were sold, 
from which it may be inferred that the earl's trees were 
held in some estimation. 

The stock purchased for this garden comprised cuttings 
or sets of the following varieties of pear-trees — ^viz., two of 
the St. R^le, two of the Martin, five of the Caillou, and 
three of the Pesse-pucelle. It is stated that these cuttings 
were for planting. The only flowers named are roses, of 
which a quantity was sold, producing three shillings and 
twopence. It appears there was a pond, or vivary, in the 
garden, as the bailiff expended eight shillings in the pur- 
chase of small fish, frogs, and eels, to feed the pikes in it. 
This account further shows that the garden was enclosed 
by a paling and fosse ; that it was managed by a head 
gardener, who had an annual fee of fifty-two shillings and 
twopence, together with a robe or livery : his assistants 
seem to have been numerous, they were engaged in 
dressing the vines and manuring the ground : their 
collective wages for the year amounted to five pounds.'** 

The Earl of Lincoln is said to have assigned his 
residence to the professors of the law ; but this 
tradition, mentioned by Dugdale, does not seem 
to be in accordance with the statement of the 
same writer, in his Baronage of England, that 
the Earl died in his mansion in 13 12, 5 Edward 
II. t It is, however, the opinion of Francis 

* Archaeological Journal, i848« 
t Dugdale's Baronage, I. 105. 



44 Lincoln's Inn. 

Thynne,* a learned antiquary in the reign of 
Elizabeth, that Lincoln's Inn became an Inn of 
Court soon after that nobleman's death. The exist- 
ing records of the Society begin with the second 
year of the reign of Henry VI. 

The greater part of the estate of the see of 
Chichester on this spot appears to have been leased 
about the same time to students of the law, the 
bishops reserving only a certain portion for them- 
selves as their residence on coming to London. 
In the 28 Henry VIII., Richard Sampson, Bishop 
of Chichester, passed the inheritance to William 
Suliard, one of the benchers of the society, and his 
brother Eustace ; and by Edward, the son of the 
latter, it was transferred to the community of Lin- 
coln's Inn in the 22d year of Elizabeth. 



THE OLD BUILDINGS. 

The precincts of Lincoln's Inn comprise the 
Old Buildings (so called), with the courts in 
which are situated the old hall and chapel ; New 



* A member of Lincoln's Inn, and Lancaster Herald, 
He assisted Speght in his edition of Chaucer, to which he 
prefixed some verses on the portrait of the poet. 



The Old Buildings. 45 

Square, or Serle Court ; The Stone Build- 
ing ; The New Hall and Library, with The 
Gardens. 

The old buildings, erected at various periods be- 
tween the reigns of Henry VII. and James I., have 
their chief frontage on the east, about 500 feet in 
extent in Chancery Lane, formerly called New 
Street, and afterwards Chancellor's Lane. 

This street existed in the reign of Henry III., 
and in the timei of Edward I. was in so miry a 
condition that John Briton, Custos of London, set 
up a barrier to prevent accidents to passengers, 
which barrier was kept up for some years by the 
Bishops of Chichester, but was removed, upon com- 
plaint being made of the obstruction. The street 
was not paved till 1542. 

Since the erection of the magnificent New Hall 
and Library, the west front facing the great square 
and gardens of Lincoln's Inn Fields must now un- 
questionably be regarded as the chief front of the 
Inn, the taste and skiU displayed in the design of 
these structures and the splendour of their position 
having contributed in the most remarkable degree 
to adorn the metropolis. 

New Square, or Serle Court, on the southern 
extremity of the Old Buildings, was erected about 
1683 ; ^^^ the Stone Building from designs by Sir 
Robert Taylor, about 1780, at the north-eastern 



46 Lincoln's Inn. 

extremity, forming another court, in which are the 
entrances to the various apartments, having the 
Six Clerks' Offices on the east. A new wing was 
added by Mr Hard wick in 1845. The whole ex- 
tent of Lincoln's Inn, from north to south, is now 
about 1000 feet The last mentioned structures 
neither accord with each other in the style of archi- 
tecture adopted, nor bear the least resemblance to 
the pristine erections. 



THE GATE-HOUSE. 

The Gate-house, forming the principal external 
feature of the old buildings in Chancery Lane, has 
always been admired, and, though its appearance 
may be somewhat altered, has sustained little dimi- 
nution of its parts by the occasional repairs which 
it has undergone. The gate-house formed one of 
the principal objects in the arrangement of col- 
legiate edifices, and this fine piece of architecture is 
now almost the only specimen in London of so 
early a date. The magnificent gate-house of Lam- 
beth Palace, built by Cardinal Morton, archbishop 
of Canterbury, of somewhat earlier date ; one of 
the gateways of the ancient priory of the Knights 
of St. John in Clerkenwell ; and that of St. James's 
Palace, built for king Henry VIII., with this of 



The Gate-house. 47 

Lincoln's Inn, are now all that remain in the 
metropolis.* 

Sir Thomas Lovell, K.G., one of the Benehers 
of this Society, and Treasurer of the Household 
to king Henry VII.,t contributed most liberally 
towards its erection. The massive towers by which 
the entrance is flanked are square and lofty, rising 
four stories above the ground floor, giving height 
and importance to the general design of the build- 
ings on what was then the principal front of the Inn. 
They are constructed of brick, the favourite mate- 
rial of the Tudor period, and the surface is relieved 
by the intersection of dark-coloured or vitrified 
bricks. The entrance, under an obtusely pointed 
arch, was originally vaulted, but the groined ceiling 
is now removed. Over this arch is a rich heraldic 
compartment, painted and gilt, a mode of decora- 
tion much esteemed at the period, consisting of the 
royal arms of king Henry VIII. within the garter 



* It is to be lamented that this structure also will probably 
ere long disappear, its removal being rendered necessary for 
the construction of the suites of chambers now in progress 
for the use of the members of the society. 

•I* Sir Thomas Lovell was also a great benefactor to the 
Kunnery of Haliwell or Holywell, in the parish of St. 
Leonard's, Shoreditch, and built a chapel there, on the 
windows of which were inscribed these verses :— 

All the nunnes of Halywel 

Pray for the soul of Sir Thomas Lovel 



48 Lincoln's Inn. 

and crowned, having on the dexter side the arms of 
Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln ; and on the sinister 
side, the arms and quarterings of Sir Thomas Lovell, 
K.G. ; beneath, on a riband, Knna <@oni 151 8. 
Lower down is a tablet denoting an early repair, in- 
scribed : " Insignia haec refecta et decorata Johanne 
Hawles Armig. Solicitat. General. Thesaurario 
1695." The mouldings of the recess of the arch are 
of stone, and well preserved. The original doors of 
oak, which were not put up till 6th Eliz. 1564, 
still remain ; a postern, on the northern side of the 
entrance, has lately been constructed. AH the 
gates of entrance to the Inn are closed every night. 
There is a tradition that Oliver Cromwell had cham- 
bers in or near the gate-house, but his name does 
not appear in the registers of the Society. His 
son, Richard, was admitted as a student 23 Car. I. 
The gate-house opens upon a court, of about 150 
feet by 100 feet in dimension, having immediately 
in its front, on the western side of the court, the 
ancient hall — the oldest structure in the Inn — and 
the old kitchen, recently converted into chambers. 
Over the archway are the arms, with the initials, 
of John Hawles, Treasurer during the repairs men- 
tioned above. The north side of the court is occu- 
pied by the chapel, and the south side by chambers. 
In the centre is a temporary building erected in 
1 841, for the courts of the two Vice- Chancellors 



I 



> 



The Gate-house. 49 

Sir James Lewis Knight Bruce, and Sir James 
Wigram. 

On the northern side of the chapel is a second 
court, having an access in the rear of the chapel, 
of about the sanie dimensions as the first court, 
and entirely occupied by chambers excepting its 
western side, which is open to the garden. There 
are also two smaller courts open towards the garden, 
the southernmost bounded on the east by the old 
Hall ; and the northern entirely occupied by cham- 
bers, which on its eastern side abut upon the western 
or principal front of the chapel. Such a conceal- 
ment of an important feature of a beautiful edifice 
is much to be regretted ; and in this respect the 
chapel has shared a simitar fate with the more 
ancient and celebrated structure of the Temple 
Church, which had been shorn of its impressive 
dignity by the abutment of chambers on its front ; 
but by the rebuilding of these chambers a few years 
ago, they have been so constructed that a complete 
view of the edifice may now be obtained ; and in 
the re-erection of the chambers now in progress at 
Lincoln's Inn, the chapel will doubtless be opened 
to the view. 

The suites of chambers which now occupy the 
courts were chiefly erected about the time of king 
James L ; and notwithstanding that square-headed 
doorways have superseded the arches, and sashed 

D 



50 Lincoln's Inn. 

window-frames have taken the place of the original 
lattices and muUions, the buildings retain much of 
their ancient character — more, indeed, than might 
be expected, when it is borne in mind that they 
have been for so long a time occupied by persons 
living in different periods, and*ndividually of varied 
dispositions and habits.* In one of these chambers, 
No. 13, which had belonged to John Thurloe, 
Secretary of State to Oliver Cromwell, was dis- 
covered, in the reign of William III., a collection of 
papers concealed in a false ceiling of the apartment. 
These form the principal part of the collection 
afterwards published by Dr Birch, known by the 
name of the Thurloe State Papers.t 

In the reign of James I., the four courts just 
described were named the North Court, the East 
Court, the South Court, and the Middle Court. 

* Jt is intended that these suites of chambers shall be 
taken down, and rebuilt in an appropriate style of archi- 
tecture. They will be built in divisions, so as to avoid ,the 
displacement of tenants before the new rooms are ready for 
occupation ; and the first division is now in the course of 
erection on the vacant ground in one of the courts. 

+ In one of the rooms in a suite of chambers (now num- 
bered as 13 of the New Square, though belonging to the 
old buildings), occupied by the present Treasurer of the 
Society, W. Bulkeley Glasse, Esq., by whom it was kindly 
brought under my notice, there is an oaken beam, painted 
and varnished, traversing the peiling of the room, on which 
are carved the initials T. S. with the motto ' ' Sans Dieu rien, ' 
and the date 1596. The initials are doubtless those of the 



The Gate-house. S i 

They* have also had other names, but at present 
have no other designation than that of Old Build- 
ings, or Old Square. It might, perhaps, not be an 
inappropriate distinction if the first court were 
named LovelFs Court, another Neville's Court, and 
so forth, from the several founders or benefactors. 
On the fronts of two of the old gables are vertical 
sun-dials, an almost exploded embellishment of 
ancient houses. A southern dial, restored in 1840, 
in the treasurership of William Selwyn, Esq., shows 
the hours by its gnomon from six in the morning to 
four in the evening. On this dial is the following 
inscription :— Ex hocmomento pendet iETERNi- 
TAS. Apother, a western dial, restored in 1794, in 
the treasurership of the Right Hon. William Pitt, 
and again in 1848) in the treasurership of Clement 



name of Thomas Sanderson, whose arms are carved on the 
fine antique mantel-piece in the same room, and also on that 
of another apartment. He was one of the Benchers of the 
Society, who bad contributed liberally to the fund for the 
building of the new chapel, in the west window of which 
his arms may be seen, and also on the pedestal under the 
figure of Abraham, in the third window on the north side of 
the same chapel, united with those of Christopher Brooke, 
with an inscription stating that the care of the erection of 
the sacred edifice had been intrusted to those Masters of 
the Bench. (See page 76 of this work, and pages 235, 237, 
and 240 of Dugdale's Origines ; but the arms of Sanderson, 
with the motto, which are on the pedestal, as well as the 
inscription, are omitted in Dugdale's engraving.) 



52 Lincoln's Inn. 

Tudway Swanston, Esq., from the different situation 
of its plane, only shows the hours from noon till 
night. This dial bears the inscription : — Qua 
REDIT, NESCITIS HORAM. It is satisfactory to 
mention that the more modern repairs of the 
chambers are conducted by simply adhering to the 
forms of the Tudor period, involving no sacrifice of 
comfort for the sake of a more stately exterior. 



THE OLD HALL. 

The ancient hall of the Society, situated in the 
first court, opposite the gate of entrance from Chan- 
cery Lane, is the oldest edifice of the Inn now- 
remaining, having been erected in the 22d Henry 
VII. A.D. 1506. Respecting the earlier structure, 
which had become ruinous, and was pulled down 
in 8 Henry VII. to make room for the present 
edifice, there is no record as to its dimensions or 
character. A louvre for carrying off the smoke 
from the fire in the centre of the hall— a common 
arrangement at that time— one of the necessary 
and characteristic features of ancient halls, was 
placed on the ridge of the roof in 6 Edward VI. 
1552. This louvre has a large vane on the sum- 
mit, and was formerly enriched with the heraldic 



The Old Hall. 53 

distinctions of the Earl of Lincoln, which were 
removed on the occasion of some repairs. In the 
year 1818 the louvre was renewed, but not improved 
in design. 

The hall has on each side three large windows 
of three lights each, the heads of which are arched 
and cusped, besides the two great oriels at the 
extremities. The oriels have four lights each, tran- 
somed, with arched heads and cusps. The walls 
are strengthened by buttresses ; and the parapet is 
embattled. The entrance, till the recent alteration, 
was under an archway at the southern extremity, 
and opposite to this entrance was the old kitchen, 
now converted into chambers. The exterior was 
extensively repaired and stuccoed by Bernasconi, 
in 1800. An arcade, built in 18 19, affords a con- 
necting corridor to the Vice- Chancellor of Eng- 
land's Court, erected at the same time, and situated 
on the western side of the Hall towards the garden. 
On the death of Sir Lancelot Shadwell, on the loth 
of August 1850, the title of Vice-Chancellor of 
England was discontinued. On account of the 
increase of business in the Court of Chancery, two 
additional vice-chancellors had been appointed by 
statute in the year 1841 ; and ten years afterwards, 
to relieve further the Lord Chancellor's labours, two 
new judges were appointed, called Lords Justices 
of the Court of Appeal, by whom, either sitting 



54 Lincoln's Inn. 

together, or with the Lord Chancellor, all appeals 
from the decisions of the other Equity Courts were 
to be decided. 

The hall is about 71 feet in length, and 32 feet 
in breadth ; the height about equal to the breadth. 
Although extremely just in its proportions, and 
termed by old writers " a goodly hall," it certainly 
is not equal in stateliness to the hall of the Middle 
Temple ; but it has of late been curtailed of its 
fair proportions, having been divided near the 
centre by a temporary partition, to form two courts 
for the sittings of the Lord Chancellor and the 
Lords Justices, the benchers having granted the 
use of the hall for these purposes until such time 
as suitable accommodation shall be provided by 
the country for the sittings of the Courts of Justice. 

On the dais at the northern end is the seat of 
the Lord Chancellor, who now holds his sittings 
here both during term and vacation. Having been 
disused as a dining-hall since the erection of the 
New Buildings, the apartment is now only used for 
the sittings of the Courts of Chancery and Appeal. 
On the side of the dais is a corridor of communi- 
cation with the old Council-chamber, the windows 
of which, before the erection of the Vice- Chancellor 
of England's Court, faced the garden. 

Above the panelling of the dais is the picture of 
Paul before Felix, painted for the Society in 1750 



The Old Hall. 55 

by Hogarth.* This picture is noticed by Mrs 
Jameson as curiously characteristic, not of the 
scene or of the chief personage, but of the painter. 
St. Paul, loaded with chains, and his accuser Ter- 
tullus, stand in front ; and Felix, with his wife 
Drusilla, is seated on a raised tribunal in the back- 
ground ; near Felix is the high priest Ananias. 
The composition is good, the heads are full of 
vivid expression — wrath, terror, doubt, attention ; 
but the conception of character most ignoble and 
commonplace.f 

At the lower end of the room is a massive screen, 
erected in 1565, decorated with the grotesque carv- 
ings which at that time had entirely superseded 
the purer forms of the earlier work. The heraldic 
achievements of King Charles II., with others of 
the nobility, formerly emblazoned on this screen , 
have been removed to the New Hall, as have also 
the armorial bearings of the most distinguished 
members of the Society, formerly on the panels of 
this hall. 

* By the will of Lord W3mdham, Baron of Finglass, and 
Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, the sum of ;^2oo was 
bequeathed to the Society, to be expended in adorning the 
Chapel, or Hall, as the Benchers should think fit. At the 
recommendation of Lord Mansfield, Hogarth was engaged 
to paint the picture, which was at first designed for the 
Chapel. 

t Sacred and Legendary Art. 



56 Lincoln's Inn. 

Alterations were made in this hall in the years 
1625, 1652, and 1706; and in 1819, increased 
accommodation being required, the room was 
lengthened about ten feet. The coved ceiling of 
plaster was then substituted for the open oak roof, 
quite out of character with the original building ; 
and other alterations were made not in accordance 
with the period of erection. 

The windows were enriched with heraldic achieve- 
ments,* in stained glass; but these decorations 
have likewise been removed to the New Hall, 
where they have been arranged in the eastern oriel, 
by Mr. Willement. 

At the end of the present northern division of the 
hall, opposite the dais, is a statue by Westmacott of 
Lord Erskine, who was Lord Chancellor in 1806. 
The expression of the countenance in this statue 
attests the skill of the sculptor ; it is one of his 
finest works. 

In 1843, when still further accommodation was 
required, and the erection of a New Hall was 
determined upon, the judgment and taste of the 
Benchers were evinced in the adoption of the same 
picturesque style of architecture which prevailed 
in the more ancient part of Lincoln's Inn, and by 



* The earlier armorial bearings are all engraved by Hollar 
in Dugdale's Origines Jaridiciales. 



The Old Hall. 57 

the skill and masterly arrangements of the architect 
who was selected, the new structures have been 
made to surpass the earlier edifices as much in 
magnificence of design and embellishment as they 
exceed their prototypes in extent of plan. 

In this ancient hall were held all the revels of 
the Society, customary in early times, in which the 
Benchers themselves, laying aside their dignity, 
also indulged at particular seasons. The exercise 
of dancing was especially enjoined for the students, 
and was thought to conduce to the making of 
gentlemen more fit for their books at other times.* 
One of the latest revels, at which king Charles II. 
was present, is noticed both by Evelyn and Pepys 
in their Diaries. 

At these entertainments the hall cupboard was 
set with plate, amongst the ancient pieces of which 
now belonging to the Society are — a silver basin 
and ewer, presented in 1652 by the Right Hon. 
Philip Lord Wharton, and Mrs. Elizabeth Wharton, 
in memory of Sir Rowland Wandesford, whose 
daughter was married to Lord Wharton ; a silver 
cup and cover, presented by Edward Rich, Esq., 
in 1665 ; a silver basin and ewer, by Arthur, Earl 
of Anglesey, in 1675 ; a large silver cup with two 
handles, the gift of Sir Richard Rainsford, in 1677 ; 

* Dugdale's Origines, 246. 



58 Lincoln's Inn. 

a large silver college-pot for festivals, the gift of 
John Greene, Esq., Recorder of London, c. 1692 ; 
and a large silver punch-bowl with two hatidles, 
presented by William Fellowes, Esq., in 171 8. 

On a second visit of Charles II., in company with 
his brother the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, the 
Duke of Monmouth, and others of the nobility on 
29th February 1 671, the whole company were enter- 
tained in this Hall, and those illustrious and dis- 
tinguished personages were admitted as Members 
of the Hon. Society of Lincoln's Inn. The cere- 
mony of his Majesty's reception and entertainment, 
abridged from the Admittance Book of the Society,, 
in which the signatures of his Majesty and suite 
are preserved^ will be found the best illustration of 
the state used on these occasions : — 

The King with his attendants made his entrance 
through the garden at the great gate in Chancery 
Lane, where the Benchers waited his coming, and 
attended his Majesty up to the terrace, next the 
Fields, trumpets and kettle-drums sounding all the 
while. From the garden his Majesty went to the 
Council Chamber, the barristers and students in 
their gowns standing on each side. After a little 
rest his Majesty viewed the Chapel, returned to the 
Council Chamber, and thence was conducted into 
the Hall, where he dined under a canopy of state, 
the Duke of York sitting at the end of the table 



The Old Hall. 59 

on his right hand, and Prince Rupert at the other 
end. The noblemen of his Majesty's suite dined 
at tables on each side of the hall, the barristers and 
students waiting upon them. The Reader and some 
of the Benchers waited near his Majesty's chair, 
and four of the Benchers, with white staves, waited 
as Comptrollers of the Hall. The banquet, at the 
King's table, was served by the barristers and 
students on their knees, violins playing all the time 
of dinner in the gallery. Towards the end of dinner, 
the King and his suite entered their names in the 
Admittance Book of Lincoln's Inn, thus being 
pleased to enrol themselves as Members of the 
Society. The noblemen, before his Majesty rose 
from dinner, borrowing gowns of the students, put 
them on, and waited on his Majesty, much to his 
delight. After pledging the welfare of the Society, 
the King retired to the Council Chamber, and con- 
ferred the honour of knighthood on two of the 
Benchers, Mr. Nicholas Pedley, and Mr, Richard 
Stote ; one of the barristers, Mr. James Butler ; 
and one of the students, Mr. Francis Dayrell ; each 
degree and order thus receiving testimony of royal 
favour. On his departure, his Majesty expressed 
his satisfaction and returned his thanks to the 
Reader ; and two days afterwards four of the 
Benchers waited on the King at Whitehall, and 
acknowledged the honour vouchsafed to the Society. 



6o Lincoln's Inn. 

In the hall were also performed plays and 
masques. These on particular occasions — as in 
1613, at the celebration of the nuptials of the Pals- 
grave and the Princess Elizabeth — were performed 
in the presence of the sovereign at Whitehall. In 
the year 1633, a masque of magnificent -character 
was presented there by the four Inns of Court, 
as a counter-demonstration of the feelings of the 
members, in opposition to the sentiments expressed 
by Prynne in his Histrio-mastix. An animated 
description of this pageant is given by Whitelock 
in his Memorials. 

As the annual orations of the Tancred's students 
were delivered in this hall before the erection of 
the New Buildings, this may be a fitting place to 
mention the particulars of Mr. Tancred's bequest 
in favour of those who are called . . . 



TANCRED'S STUDENTS. 

These students are elected to partake of a bequest 
made in the year 1754, by Christopher Tancred, of 
Whixley, in Yorkshire, Esq., who bequeathed a 
considerable property to be vested in trustees for 
the education of twelve students, four in divinity, 
at Christ's College, Cambridge ; four in physic, at 
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge ; and four 



\ 

1 



tv 



Tancred's Students. 6i 

in common law at Lincoln's Inn. The trustees 
named in Mr Tancred's will are — the Master of 
Christ's College, and the Master of Gonville and 
Caius College, in Cambridge ; the President of the 
College of Physicians ; the Treasurer of the Hon. 
Society of Lincoln's Inn ; the Master of the Charter 
House ; the Governors of Greenwich and Chelsea 
Hospitals. 

The persons elected must not be less than sixteen 
years of age ; must be natives of Great Britain ; 
of the Church of England ; and not capable of 
obtaining the education directed by the settlement 
without such assistance. The annual value of each 
studentship was originally fifty pounds, but is now 
of about double that amount ; and this aid is con- 
tinued for three years after the student has taken 
the degree of bachelor of arts, bachelor in physic, 
or barrister at law ; and to keep in remembrance 
the liberality of the donor, a Latin oration on the 
subject of his charities is ordered to be annually 
delivered by one of the students in each branch, in 
the halls of the colleges before mentioned, and of 
Lincoln's Inn respectively. 

Candidates for the studentship must apply by 
petition to the governors and trustees ; and every 
person elected one of the Tancred's law students 
must, within one month after such election, be 
entered as a member of the Society of Lincoln's 



62 Lincoln's Inn. 

Inn, and keep commons for twelve terms in the 
hall, according to the rules of the Society. 



THE CHAPEL. 

This edifice, independently of the sacred pur- 
poses to which it is dedicated, possesses features of 
peculiar interest to the architect and antiquary. 
Erected at a period when architecture of a mixed 
character prevailed in most of our ecclesiastical 
structures, it has been the subject of much criticism, 
and has called forth various opinions both as 
regards its merits and its antiquity. 

-Horace Walpole has remarked that Inigo Jones, 
the reputed architect of the building, " was by no 
means successful when he attempted Gothic* The 
Chapel of Lincoln's Inn has none of the characters 
of that architecture. The cloister seems oppressed 
by the weight of the building above." 

The late Mr. John Carter, an architect of reputa- 
tion, who claims an early date for the foundation 
of the chapel, states his opinion that in the lines of 
the edifice, after its many alterations, an unpreju- 
diced mind may discover that the first work was a 



* The impropriety of the term Gothic is now generally 
admitted, but was little understood when Walpole wrote. 



The Chapel. 63 

beautiful design of the reign of Edward III. or 
Richard II.* 

Mr. Carter founds his arguments for the antiquity 
of the edifice mainly on the affinity of the crypt to 
that of St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster ; the 
form of the buttresses ; the tracery of the windows ; 
and the vestiges of groins with elaborate tracery on 
the ascent to the chapeL Conceiving that Inigo 
Jones, on being applied to for the necessary repairs 
of the chapel, introduced what he regarded as 
improvements y Mr. Carter gives a detailed view of 
the alterations which he supposes that eminent 
architect to have effected, more particularly in the 
crypt 

An antiquarian friend, who has devoted much 
time and attention to an examination of the edifice, 
following out the views of Mr. Carter, conjectures 
that the chapel owed its foundation to the Bishops 
of Chichester as an essential part of their princely 
residence in London, and was probably built by 
William Rede, who held that see from 1369 to 
1385, and was distinguished by his skill in archi- 
tecture. This prelate designed the Library of 
Merton College, Oxford, and in the eastern window 
of the Chapel of that College may be observed the 
circular form sometimes termed the Catherine 

* Gentleman's Magazine, 18 12. 



64 Linxoln's Inn. 

wheel, the same as in the great eastern window of 
Lincoln's Inn Chapel. This opinion is advanced 
in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for December 1849, 
and the circumstance of the chapel being built on 
a crypt is regarded as strong presumptive proof of 
the antiquity of the edifice. 

An eminent living architect, however, in support 
of the assertion respecting the prevalence of a mixed 
architecture in the seventeenth century, the time 
when Lincoln's Inn Chapel is stated to have been 
built, has kindly furnished me with several examples 
of the imitation of mediaeval architecture at this 
period. Among the more remarkable are the 
following, which are to be found at Oxford : — The 
Chapel of Brasen Nose College, built in 1656, and 
the Library of the same College, in 1663, where 
maybe observed, in the head of the eastern window, 
the radiated circle as at Lincoln's Inn ; the Chapel 
of Exeter College, 1624 ; the buildings of Oriel 
College, all after 1620 ; most of the buildings of 
Jesus College, between 161 6 and 1640 ; and the 
Chapel of Lincoln College, by Dr. John Williams, 
Archbishop of York, which was consecrated in 
1 63 1. Examples might be easily multiplied, but 
these may be sufficient for the purpose. 

" All these," observes this gentleman, " are 
genuine original designs — />., not restorations of 
any previously existing fabric ; but, as far as their 



The Chapel. 65 

art goes, imitations of a style used in a previous 
century. They all possess the same characteristics 
— Xh^ forms of the various parts of the building, 
such as the windows, doors, buttresses, and roof 
being imitations, not copies of mediaeval art. The 
details of the various parts, the profiles of the 
mouldings, &c., are in like manner imitations of 
older forms, but are not usually so closely or so skil- 
fully imitated as the general forms and larger masses. 
The Chapel at Lincoln's Inn is a very interesting 
instance of this sort of architecture — a ^renais- 
sance^ not paralleled by any architecture of any 
other time or country — unless, indeed, we except the 
present practice of the art in England and France.'* 

Having thus placed in juxtaposition the opinions 
of professional men respecting this interesting 
edifice, I may now add further that the existing 
records of the Society completely disprove the 
opinions advanced on the antiquity of the building, 
however extraordinary it may appear that Inigo 
Jones should have erected a building in this style, 
at the very time when he was directing the national 
taste in the adoption of the Italian models. 

The records referred to clearly prove that the 
chapel was not restored or repaired, as has been 
supposed, but that a new edifice was erected in the 
reign of James I., and that the old chapel, the 
ruinous condition of which had rendered a new one 

E 



66 Lincoln's Inn. 

necessary, was standing when the new building was 
finished and consecrated in 1623.* The instrument 
of consecration, preserved among these records, 
gives the same evidence, particularly by the occur- 
rence of the words : " noviter jam erigi^ edificari 
et construiP There is also, in the first volume 
of a work presented to the Library in 1621 by Dr. 
John Donne, an inscription in his own hand-writing, 
declaring that \kit first stone of the edifice was laid 
by his hand. 

Although it does not appear quite certain from 
the records that Inigo Jones was the architect em- 
ployed, there can be little doubt that such was the 
case. In the year 161 7, the Society having deter- 
mined upon the erection of a -new chapel, it is 
stated that " the consideration of a fit model for the 
chapel is commended to Mr. Inditho Jones \sic\ ; '* 
and in another entry it is said that the estimate 
was upwards of £,2000, but there is no further 
mention of the name of Jones. John Clarke was the 
mason employed. The first mention of Inigo Jones 



* The new Chapel was consecrated on the feast of the 
Ascension, in 1623 ; and there is an entry in the registers of 
the Society, on the 19th of June in the same year, stating 
that Mr. Noy, one of the Masters of the Bench, was entreated 
to attend the archbishop for the purpose of obtaining a 
faculty or dispensation for the demolishing of the old chapel, 
and in the mean season none to work there, but the door to 
be locked up. 



The Chapel. 67 , 

as the architect in any printed notice of the edifice 

appears in the engraving by Vertue in 1751 ; and 

afterwards in the fourth edition of Ralph's View of 

the Public Buildings of London, printed in 1783. 

The name does not occur in the first edition of that 

work in 1734. But in one of the Harleian MSS. No. 

5900, written about the year 1700, it is stated that 

Inigo Jones built the chapel of Lincoln's Inn, " after 

the Gothick manner, in imitation of that of St. 

Stephen's at Westminster." 

With respect to the elevation of the chapel on a 

crypt, of which it is said there are very few examples 

remaining in this country, it may be observed that 

this mode of arrangement, connected with certain 

ritual observances, is sometimes found in towns, or 

wherever space was ta be economised. Whatever 

may have been the original object in the case of 

Lincoln's Inn Chapel, whether the design were 

copied or not from the earlier edifice, or from that 

of St. Stephen's, it is evident that about the period 

of erection it was used as an ambulatory, or place 

for lawyers " to walk in, to talk and confer their 

learning," from the allusions to this custom by 

Butler and Pepys cited by Mr Cunningham in his 

Handbook for London : — 

" Retain all sorts of witnesses 
That ply i' th* Temples under trees, 
Or walk the Round with Knights o' th' Posts 
About their cross-legged knights their hosts. 



/ 






68 Lincoln's Inn. 

Or wait for customers between 
The pillar-rows in Lincoln's Inn." 

HuDiBRAS, part iii. canto 3. 

" To Lincoln's Tnn, to see the new garden which they are 
making, which will be very pretty, — and so to walk under 
the chapel hy agreement." — Pepys* Diary, 

It may be proper to mention, before leaving this 
subject, that in the year 1 822, in digging below the 
foundations of the chapel, a sculpture was found, 
of which an engraving is given in Mr. Lane's 
Guide. It apparently represents the Annunciation, 
is about one foot square, and, at the time of its 
discovery, the colours and gilding with which it 
was decorated were well preserved. It probably 
formed one of the ornaments of the old chapel. 

A perfect view of this religious edifice is, owing 
to the -contiguity of the surrounding buildings, 
somewhat difficult of attainment. That usually 
important feature, the western front with its large 
window, is in this chapel entirely concealed from 
view by chambers erected immediately before it ; 
and the entrance is to be sought under an archway- 
over which is carved the Lion of the Earl of 
Lincoln, with the initials of Marmaduke Alington, 
Esq., Treasurer of the Society in 1737. A turret 
with cupola, surmounted by a weather-vane, rises 
at the south-western angle of the chapel, and con- 
tains an ancient bell, which is said by tradition to 
have been brought from Spain about 1596, forming 



The Chapel. 69 

part of the spoils acquired by the gallant Earl of 
Essex at the capture of Cadiz.* An inspection of 
the bell, however, reveals the inscription, "Anthony 
Bond made mee, 161 5," with the initials of 
Thomas Hitchcock, who was Treasurer of the So- 
ciety in that year ; and how far this fact refutes, or 
may be made to accord with the tradition, may be 
left for the inquiries of the curious. 

The open crypt or ambulatory, on which the chapel 
is elevated, consists of three obtusely-pointed arches, 
in the longest sides, and two massive piers in the 
centre. It is now inclosed with iron railings, and 
is used as a place of interment for the Benchers. 

On each of the sides of the chapel, are three large 
windows, the muUions and tracery of which, as 
well as the form of the massive buttresses between 
them, resemble the style of architecture which pre- 
vailed in the time of king Edward III. The but- 
tresses are graduated, and are now terminated with 
small battlements, an improvement on the mode in 
which they were previously terminated by huge 
vases with flames issuing from them, as represented 
in the print published by Vertue in 1751. The 
large and very fine eastern window is divided by 

• In this expedition the Earl was accompanied by Dr. 
Donne, formerly one of the students of Lincoln's Inn, who 
laid the first stone of the chapel, and preached the sermon 
at the consecration. 



70 Lincoln's Inn. 

mullions into seven lights, with one transom, and 
in the beautiful tracery in the arched head is a 
circle divided into twelve tre-foiled lights by 
mullions radiating from the centre. The ascent to 
the chapel is by a flight of steps under the archway 
before mentioned, leading to a porch erected by 
Mr. Hardwick in 1843. 

The appearance of the chapel on entering is 
remarkably impressive, — an effect produced by the 
chastened light transmitted by the stained glass in 
the very fine windows, the beautiful colours of which 
far surpass the generality of works in this style of 
art. The carved oaken seats merit attention for 
their design and very superior execution, as spe- 
cimens of the taste of the reign of James I. 
The altar, which is raised, is inclosed by balus- 
trades, and to it belong two large silver flagons 
and salvers, presented by Nicholas Franklyn, 
Esq., in 1700, and two silver gilt chalices, given 
to the chapel by Sir James Allan Park in i8o6. 
There was a small screen (which has been lately 
removed) raised on the end of the last pew 
near the altar, — not an uncommon arrangement 
in the seventeenth century, and very frequently 
found in the churches built by Sir Christopher 
Wren in the eighteenth century. This is a 
restoration of the ancient division of churches 
by the rood-screen into nave and chancel. The 



The Chapel. 71 

length of the chapel is sixty-seven feet, the 
breadth forty-one feet, and its height about forty- 
four feet. The interior underwent great alterations 
in 1794-6 under the direction of Mr. James Wyatt, 
when the ceiling of timber was removed, and one 
of stucco by Bernasconi substituted, in presumed 
accordance with the decorated style of architecture. 

The Organ, in a gallery at the western end, was 
erected by Messrs. W. Hill and Son, in 1856, taking 
the place of one which had been previously built 
by Messrs. Flight and Robson in 1820. It has much 
sweetness of tone, combined with great power, but 
this power is so modulated by the skill of the 
organist. Dr. Steggall, that the volume of sound 
is not disproportioned to the moderate size of the 
building. The choral service, to which much care 
and attention is devoted, is very impressive, ex- 
emplifying the assertion of Hooker,* that church 
music is " the ornament of God's service, and a 
help to our own devotion." 

The windows on the north and south sides are 
filled with a series of figures of Prophets and 
Apostles in brilliant stained glass, executed by 
Bernard and Abraham Van Linge, Flemish artists, 
whose works are among the most celebrated of 

* It may be interesting to remember that Hooker was 
Master of the Temple Church, where ecclesiastical music 
has been so effectively revived. 



72 Lincoln's Inn. 

their period. The windows in the Chapels of 
University and Balliol Colleges at Oxford, by 
Abraham, and those at Wadham College, by Ber- 
nard, are remarkably fine.. In this chapel, the 
windows are not all equally rich in their effect, nor 
of equal merit in the drawing and composition. 
The colours are generally well preserved, and 
increased in brilliancy by the strong contrast of 
bright lights and opaque shadows — a characteristic 
of the work of the Van Linges. Each window has 
four lights, and the subjects represented are 
arranged as follows, each figure bearing its appro- 
priate attribute. 

South Side, First Window, — i. St. Peter, with 
a key in his right hand. 2. St. Andrew, with a 
book open in his left hand, turning the leaves with 
his right ; behind him, his cross. 3. St. James the 
Great, habited as a pilgrim, with staff, and holding 
a closed book. 4. St. John, the Apostle and Evan- 
gelist, bearing in his left hand a cup, from which a 
serpent is issuing. 

These figures are on pedestals, and under very elaborate 
and curiously formed canopies ; the head of each is en- 
circled by a nimbus, and beneath is the name in Latin. 
Above, in the arched heading of the window, are figures 
of angels holding tablets; on which are the crests of the 
arms depicted beneath. In the jthird light of this window, 
at the left corner of the pedestal, is the date 1623 ; and 
in the fourth light, at the base of the pedestal, on the left 



The Chapel. 73 

side, is inscribed Jo. Donne, Dec. Paul. F. F. ; and just 
above this inscription is a cipher composed of the letters 
R. B. This cipher is also in the second light, at the 
right comer of the pedestal. The front of the pedestals 
is covered by figures of angels, bearing the arms of — 
I. Henrici Comitis Southampton. 2. Gulielmi Comitis 
Pembrochigp. 3. Johannis Comitis Bridgewater. 4. 
Jacobi Comitis Caerlile. 

South Side, Second Window, — i. St. Philip, 
bearing in his right hand a cross, and in his left a 
closed book. 2. St. Thomas, with a carpenter's 
square in his right hand, and a closed book in his 
left. 3. St. Bartholomew, holding in his right hand 
a large knife, the instrument of his martyrdom. 
4. St, Matthew, holding a lance. 

These figures are on hexagonal pedestals, under rich 
canopies, and the head of each is encircled by the nimbus. 
In the spaces of the arched heading of the window are 
here also figures of angels holding tablets with the crests 
of the arms depicted beneath. In the second light, on 
the upper comer of the pedestal, are the letters R. B. 
In the fourth light, in the same position, is a monogram. 

Under the pedestals are the following inscriptions : 
— I. Georgius, Baro de Abergaveny et Maria Filia 
Edwardi Due. Buckingh. ; with the arms on the pedestal 
between the s3rmbolical figures of Faith and Plope. 2. 
Fra : Fane, unus Socioru hujus hospitii, Eques Balnei, 
Com. Westmorland, Baro de Despencer et Burghersh, 
cujus impensis &c. haec quatuor lumina vitrseis adomantur 
depictis, et Mariae filise et heredis Antho. Mildmay, 
Militis. Aiio. Diii. 1623. Arms between the figures of 
Temperance and Justice. 3. Henrici Baro d* Aber- 
gaveny; et Francisca, fil Tho. Com. Rutland. Arms 



74 Lincoln's Inn. 

between the figures of Charity and Prudence. 4. Thos. 
Fane, Eques Auratus, et Maria, Uxor ejus, Baronissa Le 
Despencer. Arms between the figures of Wisdom and 
Fortitude. The date of 1623 is on all these pedestals. 

South Side. Third Window. — i. St. James the 
Less, holding a fuller's club in the left hand, and 
an open book in the right. 2. St. Simon, bearing 
a saw in his right hand, and a closed book in the 
left. 3. St. Jude, holding in his right hand a closed 
book. 4. St. Matthias, bearing in his right hand 
an axe, and a closed book in his left hand. 

This window differs in some respects from the two just 
described. There are no canopies, but a continued land- 
scape forms the back -ground, with the representation of 
a city in the distance, and near the centre is a building, 
bearing much resemblance to Lincoln's Inn Chapel, with 
its ambulatory, and the buttresses terminating in pinnacles. 
The figures are finely relieved against the sky and clear 
water of the landscape, and the attitudes of each are 
studiously varied, as is the case indeed with the figures 
in the other windows. The pedestals differ from the 
others, being square, and the front covered by the arms. 
In the tracery above are angels holding the armorial 
bearings of the Spencer and Compton families. In this 
Window the figures of the angels are nude ; in the others, 
draped. Beneath the figures are coats of arms thus 
inscribed : I. Robert, Lord Spencer of Wormleighton. 
2.. Sir Henry Compton, Knight 3. Thomas Spencer, 
of Claverdon, Esq. 4. John Spencer, of Offley, Esq. 

North Side, First Window, — i. King David, 
crowned, playing on the harp ; over his other 
drapery, a scarlet robe lined with ermine. 2. The 



The Chapel. 7$ 

prophet Daniel, with a golden verge or rod in his 
left hand. 3. Elias, with a sword resting on the 
ground. 4. Esaias, holding a book in his right 
hand ; with his left, a saw. 

These figures are on hexagonal pedestals, and under 
rich canopies. Above, in the arch of the window, are 
kings in robes, crowned. Beneath the figures, in front of 
the pedestals, are coats of arms, with the following inscrip- 
tions : — I. Jacobus Ley, Miles et Baronettus, Capitalis 
Justiciarius Domini Regis ad Placita coram ipso Rege 
tenenda assignatus et quondam Capitalis Justiciarius 
Capitalis Banci in Hibemilt. 2. Humphridus Winch, 
Miles, unus Justiciariorum Domini Regis de Banco, ac 
quondam Capitalis Baro Scaccarii in Hibemii, et postea 
Capitalis Justiciarius Capitalis Banci in Hibemia. 

3. Johannes Denham, Miles, unus Baronum Curiae Scaccarii 
in Anglia, et quondam Capitalis Baro Scaccarii in Hiber- 
ni^ et unus Dominorum Justiciariorum in Hibemia. 

4. Willielmus Jones, Miles, unusjusticiariorum Dili Regis 
de Banco, ac nuperime Capitalis Justiciarius Capitalis 
Banci in Hibemii. 

Nor/A Side, Second Window, — i. The prophet 
Jeremias, with a staff in the right hand, and ewer in 
the left. 2. Ezekiel, in the vestments of a priest, 
mitred, with the model of a church in his left hand. 
3. Amos, clothed as a shepherd, with a crook and 
wallet. 4. Zacharias, the prophet. 

These figures, also, are on hexagonal pedestals, under 
canopies of different form from the first window. In the 
tracery above are kings in robes, crowned, in beautiful 
colours. On the first and third pedestals is the date 



76 Lincoln's Inn. 

1624. Beneath the figures, in front of the pedestals, are 
coats of amis with the following inscriptions : — I. Ranul- 
phus Crew, Miles, Serenissimi Dni Jacobi Regis Serviens 
ad Legem. 2. Thomas Harrys, Baronettus, et Serviens ad 
Legem. 3. Tho. Richardson, Miles, Serviens ad Legem 
et Conventionis Parliamenti inchoat. et tent, tricesimo die 
Januarii Af!o Diii 1620, et ibm. continuat. usque octavum 
diem Februarii Ano Dili 1621, et tunc dissolut. Prolocutor. 
4. Johannes Darcie, Serviens ad Legem. 

North Side. Third Window, — i. Abraham, with 
a sword in his right hand, his left resting on the 
head of his son Isaac ; the intended sacrifice above, 
in the background. 2. Moses, with his rod, and 
the Two Tables of the Decalogue in his hands ; 
above, Moses receiving the tables on the Mount. 
3. St. John the Baptist, habited in a camel's skin, 
with a staff in his right hand ; and at his feet a 
lamb. In 'the upper part the baptism of Christ is 
shown. 4. St. Paul, holding a sword. Above is the 
conversion of Saul. 

These figures are on pedestals, on which the names are 
thus inscribed:— SIS Abraham, Pater Fidelium; ST^ 
MosES, Legislator; S^.^ Jo: Bapt. Pr-«cursor 
Domini; ST^ Paulus, Doctor Gentium. In the 
tracery above are the figures of Temperance, Prudence, 
Charity, Hope, Faith, Justice. Beneath the figures are 
coats of arms borne by angels in front of the pedestals, 
with these inscriptions: — i. Xpr^. Brooke et Thomas 
Saunderson, Magri de Banco, quoru fidei hujus sacrae 
Fabricae cura credita fuit fieri fecerunt, 1626. 2. Ro- 
landus Wandesford, Ebora. Ar. et unus MagrSm de 



The Chapel. 'j'j 

Banco sumptu proprio fieri fecit 1626. 3. Gulielmus 
Noye de St Buriens, Com. Comub. Armiger, unus 
Magru de Banco fieri fecit 1626, Teg yw heddwch.* 
4. Johannes Took, Armiger, hujas hospicii ad Bancum 
associatus ; et Curiae Regi Curiae suae pupillonim a 
rationibus fieri fecit, 1626. 

The latter part of some of the inscriptions is not 
now visible, the glazing of the windows having been 
removed during the repairs of the chapel, and these 
parts having been either lost or obscured in 
replacing the glass. 

The great eastern and western windows, viewed 
in comparison with those on the sides, are very 
inferior in point of decoration. The large and 
beautiful eastern window is chiefly interesting from 
its admirable proportions, the disposition of the 
mullions and tracery, and the circular form with 
radiating divisions which occupies the centre of the 
head. It contains a finely executed heraldic 
embellishmentjt the arms of King William III., the 
same as previously used by King James II., with an 
escutcheon of pretence bearing the arms of Nassau, 
with the supporters borne by the house of Stuart, 
and the motto, Je nteintiendray. This armorial 



* " I-ovely is peace," — in allusion to the crest of Noy, a 
dove bearing an olive branch. 

+ It has been thought worthy of selection as a specimen 
of the period, by Mr. Willement, who has introduced it in 
his •• Regal Heraldry." 



78 Lincoln's Inn. 

bearing occupies the three central lights below the 
transom. In the upper part of the central light 
above the transom are the arms of the Hon. 
Society of Lincoln's Inn.. Both these embellish- 
ments were put up in 1703. The remainder of the 
window is filled with the arms of the Benchers who 
have been Treasurers of Lincoln's Inn from the 
year 1680, the time of the discontinuance of the 
Readers. There are sixteen of these in each light, 
excepting the central, making one hundred and 
seventy in the whole number, besides eleven 
coats of arms in the upper tracery of the window, 
ending with those of Kenyon Stevens Parker, Esq., 
Treasurer in 1862. The glazing of the great circle 
above is composed of pieces of stained glass, in- 
serted without any regard to design or arrangement 
of colour. It must be admitted that the glazing of 
this window is far from satisfactory, and that it 
forms a remarkable contrast to the side lights. 

In the great western window the circle is of 
uncoloured glass, and the other portions contain 
the arms of eminent members of the Society who 
have been Readers. To these have been lately 
added the arms of the Treasurers from 1863 to 
1872, inclusive. 

In the porch is placed a cenotaph to the memory 
of the Rt. Hon. Spencer Perceval, with a mural 
tablet of marble, which was originally affixed to the 



The Chapel. 79 

wall of the chapel, bearing the following inscrip- 
tion : — 

' M. S. viri honoratissimi Spencer Perceval, socii 

nostri desideratissimi, banc tabulam Hospitii Lincolniensis 
Thesaurarius et Magistri de Banco P. P. Quis et qualis 
fuerit, qua gravitate, fide, constantia, quo acumine, et 

I facundiae impetu, mitem illam sapientiam, et suavissimam 
naturae indolem, ad officia publica strenue obeunda, 
erexerit et firmaverit ; quanto denique suorum, et patriae 

i et bonorum omnium luctu, vitam innocuam, probam, piam, 

I unius scelus intercluserit, annales publici mandabunt 

posteris ; nos id tantum agimus, ut quem privata necessi- 

.tudine nobis conjunctum habuerimus, privata pietate 

I prosequamur. 

On the ascent to the chapel is also a marble 

tablet to the memory of Eleanor Louisa, daughter 

) of the late Lord Brougham, a Bencher of this 

Society, with an inscription by the late Marquis 

Wellesley, written in his 8ist year : — 

Memoriae Sacrum Eleanor.^ LouiSiE Brougham, 

' Ilenrici Baronis de Brougham et Vaux, summi Angliae 

i nuper Cancellarii, et Mariae Annae, Uxoris eius, Filiae 

I unicae et dilectissimae. Decessit pridie Kal. Dec. anno 

sacro M DCCC XXXIX ; aetatis suae XVIII. 

Blanda anima ! e cunis heu ! longo exercita morbo. 

Inter matemas heu ! lacrymasque patris, 
Quas risu lenire tuo jucunda solebas ; 
I Et levis, et proprii vix memor ipsa mali : 

I I, pete ccelestes, ubi nulla est cura, recessus ! 

Et tibi sit nullo mista dolore quies 1 " Wellesley. 

^ Near this tablet has recently been erected another 

i to the memory of the late Sir Henry Wilmot Seton, 



8o Lincoln's Inn. 

Kt. Judge in the Supreme Court of Bengal, who 
died in July, 1848, on his passage from Calcutta to 
England, with this inscription ; — 



In memoriam Henrici Wilmot Seton, Equitis 
Aurati, qui Londini natus, Schola Westmonasteriensi 
postea Coll. Trin. apud Cantabrigienses bonis Uteris haud 
mediocriter imbutus, mox hujusce Societatis edicto in c 
patronorum ordinem cooptatus, tandem ad Judicis locum 1 ^ 
in suprema Bengalensi curia evectus, postquam munere 
judiciali fere per decennium summa cum laude ac 
reverentia strenue functus esset, cceli intemperie et fori 
laboribus confectus, domum sero revertens, medio in 
itinere mortem obit A. D. 1848. setatis suae 64. Viro 
solerti, simplici, verecundo, erga Deum pietate, erga 
amicos comitate, studio, constantia, erga omnes homines "'- 
benignitate insigni, tabulam amoris ac desiderii monu- k 
mentum, sodales aliquot superstites poni curaverunt. ■^ 

By the side of this tablet is another in memory ::: 
of Sir Francis Simpkinson, who was Treasurer of 
the Society at the time of the inauguration of the 
New Hall and Library, and died in July 1851. 
The inscription is as follows : — ] 

Memoriae Sacrum Johannis Augusti Francisci ^ 
Simpkinson, Equitis Aurati, Jurisconsulti Regii, hujusc. :li£ 
Societatis e Praefectis Consessoribus qui Thesaurarius 
anno M DCCC XLV creatus, Reginam Victoriam JEdes 
Collegii magnificentius extructas inaugurare dignantem "^ 
publico hospitio praeses excepit, annuo, qui apud suos est, k. 
magistratu singulari cum honore functus. Vir legum i^ 
peritissimus, plurimis Uteris omatus, beuignus, fidelis, 
verax, summa probitate, simulatione virtutum nulla, ita 
ad majora se in Deum officio paratius accessurum 



Co 



iil 



Ir 

■IC 



The Chapel. 8i 

credebat, si suos pietate, bonos omnes observantia, inopes 
misericordia prosequeretur. Genevae natus matre Hel- 
vetica prid. Kal. Dec. MDCCLXXX, obiit Londini 
octav. Id. Jul. MDCCCLI. anno setat. Ixxi, Subter hoc 
sacellum sepultus jacet ; monumentum hoc uxor et filii 
mcerentes posuerunt.'' 

Among the remarkable persons buried in the 
cloister under the chapel are John Thurloe, 
Secretary of State to Oliver Cromwell ; the inde- 
fatigable William Prynne, to whom English history 
is indebted for the preservation of many of the 
public records ; William Melmoth, author of the 
" Great Importance of a Religious Life ; " John 
Coxe, a great benefactor to the Society j Sir John 
Anstruther, Chief Justice of the Court of Judicature 
in Bengal, who was one of the managers in the 
impeachment of Warren Hastings ; Francis Har- 
grave, the learned author of Notes on Coke's 
Commentary upon Littleton and many other valu- 
able juridical works. 

The time occupied in the erection of the chapel 
was five years, and the edifice was consecrated on 
the feast of the Ascension, 1623, by Dr. George 
Mountaine, Bishop of London. A sermon was de- 
livered by Dr. Donne, formerly "Preacher to the 
Society, but at that time Dean of St. PauFs, from 
the text : " And it was at Jerusalem the feast of 
the. dedication, and it was winter." St. John, cap. 
10. V. 22. A contemporary letter states that on 

F 



82 Lincoln's Inn. 

this occasion " there was great concourse of noble- 
men and gentlemen, whereof two or three were 
endangered and taken up dead for the time with 
the extreme press and thronging." * 

Within the walls of this sacred edifice many of 
the most distinguished and eloquent divines of the 
Church of England have exercised their ministry 
in the office of Preacher to the Society, amongst 
whom shine conspicuously the names of Donne, 
Usher, Gataker, Tillotson, Hurd, Warburton, 
Heber, &c. 

The earliest entries in the Register of Lincoln's 
Inn relative to the appointment of a Preacher, for- 
merly called a Divinity Reader or Lecturer, occur 
in the year 15 8 1, when a letter was written by the 
Masters of the Bench to one of the Lords of the 
Privy Council, stating that having been long de- 
sirous to have a Preacher in their House, " like as 
is in other Houses of Court," they had chosen Mr. 
Charke for that office. Mr. Charke was a fel- 
low of Peter House, Cambridge, and is said by 
Strype to have been " a person disaffected to the 
habits of the clergy, and to. the present govern- 
ment of the church by metropolitans, archbishops, 
bishops, &c." 



* Letter of J. Chamberlain, Esq. to Sir D. Carletoxi. 
See ** Court and Times of James I." vol, ii. p. 402. 



The Chapel.— Preachers. 83 

The next appointment was that of Dr. Richard 
Field, 1 6th January 1594. This eminent divine, 
the intimate friend of Hooker and Sir Henry Sa- 
ville, was "a powerful preacher, and profound 
schoolman." 

In 1599 Mr. Pulley was appointed Preacher ; 
and was succeeded 22d April 1602, by the learned 
Thomas Gataker, " one whom a foreign writer 
has placed among the six Protestants most con- 
spicuous, in his judgment, for depth of reading."* 

In 161 2 Mr, Holloway was appointed Preacher, 
and held the office for four years. 

Dr. John Donne was elected Preacher 24th Oct. 
16 1 6. He had been a student of Lincoln's Inn, 
and was for some time chief secretary to Lord Chan- 
cellor Ellesmere. Having been Preacher above five 
years, he was appointed Dean of St. Paul's, and on 
taking leave of the Society presented to them in 
token of his affection a copy of the Commentary of 
Nicholas de Lyra on the Bible, in six volumes, folio ; 
with an inscription alluding to his change of life, 
and transition from the study of the law and various 
other pursuits to the sacred office of the ministry. 

Dr. John Preston succeeded, 21st May 1622. 
He is noticed by E chard as " the head of the Puri- 
tan party, an exquisite preacher, a subtle disputant, 
_ # — 

♦ Hallam's Literature of Europe, iv. 111, 



84 Lincoln's Inn. 

and a deep politician, who once was highly in favour 
with the Duke of Buckingham." 

The next Preacher was Dr. Edward Rey- 
nolds, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, elected i6th 
Oct. 1628. Dr. Reynolds was one of the Assembly 
of Divines, which sat at Westminster during the 
Great Rebellion. 

The Rev. Joseph Caryl was appointed 
Preacher 5th June 1632. He was one of the 
ministers who went with the Commissioners ap- 
pointed by Parliament, to treat of peace with King 
Charles I. at Newport, in the Isle of Wight, where 
he preached before them on 30th January 1648. 

The venerable Archbishop Usher was ap- 
pointed Preacher in 1647, being then in the 68th 
year of his age. This prelate was the intimate friend 
of Sir Matthew Hale. 

Dr. Reeves was chosen Preacher, 9th May 
1654 ; and was succeeded by 

The Rev. Thomas Greenfield, ist Nov. 

1657. 

John Tillotson, D.D., Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, was appointed Preacher 26th November 
1663. The esteem in which this eminent prelate 
was held by the public is well known. He was no 
less admired and loved by^the Society. 

Edward Maynard, D.D., 13th November 
1691. The public are indebted to Dr. Majmard 



The Chapel.— Preachers. 85 

for the second and enlarged edition of Dugdale's 
History of St. Paul's, with the life of the author 
prefixed. 

Francis' Gastrell, Bishop of Chester, 9th 
November 1699. The bishop was a man of great 
learning, and an excellent preacher ; he was one of 
the Boyle Lecturers. 

William Lupton, D.D., 17th April 1714. 
The Sermons of Dr. Lupton have been published, 
in one volume, Svo^ London, 1729. 

Thomas Herring, D.D. Archbishop of York 
and of Canterbury, 23d January 1726. Archbishop 
Herring's Sermons on public occasions were pub- 
lished in 1763, and his Letters in 1777. 

Rev. Mr. Cranke, 28th Nov. 1733. 

Rev. George Watts, 6th June 1735, after- 
wards Master of the Temple. 

William Warburton, D.D., Bishop of Glou- 
cester, i6th April 1746. The author of the Di- 
vine Legation of Moses is too well known by his 
varied learning, and his sagacity and zeal in contro- 
versy, to need further mention here. His character 
is well set forth by his friend and biographer, 
Bishop Hurd. 

Thomas Ashton, D.D., 8th April 1761. Dr. 
Ashton's Sermons were printed in 1770, in one 
volume, 8vo, with a portrait in mezzotinto by J. 
Spilsbury, from a painting by Sir J. Reynolds. 



86 Lincoln's Inn. 

Richard Hurd, D.D., Bishop of Lichfield and 
of Worcester, 6th Nov. 1765. Bishop Hurd is well 
known by the elegance of his writings, and his inti- 
mate friendship with Bishop Warburton. The poet 
Langhome was assistant preacher to Dr. Hurd. 

Dr. Woodcock, elected Preacher 28th Novem- 
ber 1776. 

Dr. Cyril Jackson, 17th May 1779. He be- 
came afterwards Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, 
where, says Mr. Alexander Chalmers, " he presided 
with almost unexampled zeal and ability." 

Dr. William Jackson, brother of Dr. Cyril 
Jackson, 9th July 1783. He became Bishop of 
Oxford, after having held the office of Preacher for 
nearly twenty-nine years, and discharged its duties 
" in a faithful and exemplary manner, and to the en- 
tire satisfaction of this house." Archdeacon Nares 
was assistant preacher to Dr. Jackson for nearly 
sixteen years. 

William Van Mildert, Bishop of Llandaff, 
afterwards translated to the see of Durham, ap^ 
pointed i8th April 18 12. 

Charles Lloyd, Bishop of Oxford, 21st June 
1 819. Bishop Lloyd was the editor of the beautiful 
little Greek Testament printed at the Clarendon 
Press, which is used in the chapel of Lincoln's Inn. 
He was buried in the cloister under the chapel. 

Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta, 25th 



The Chapel.— Preachers. 87 

April 1822. On the occasion of Bishop He- 
ber's last sermon in Lincoln's Inn Chapel, on the 
eve of his departure for India, Sir Thomas Dyke 
Acland, in a letter to the bishop's widow, speaks of 
the feeling which the sermon *of that day diffused 
through the audience as a light indication of the 
powerful and salutary influence exercised by the 
bishop during his whole course in India.* 
'. Edward Maltby, D.D., i8th April 1823, 
Bishop of Chichester in 1831, translated to the see 
of Durham in 1836. 

John Lonsdale, D.D., 13th January 1836, 
Bishop of Lichfield in 1843. Bishop Lonsdale 
had been admitted as a student of Lincoln's Inn in 
181 1, but after a short time, like his predecessor, 
Dr. Donne, and many other eminent men, ex- 
changed the study of the law for that of divinity, 
and was ordained deacon in 18 15. During the 
twenty-four years in which he held the see of 
Lichfield (1843- 1867), so untiring was his zeal 
in the discharge of the duties of his high office, 
united with qualities of mind and heart which 
endeared him to the clergy of his large diocese, as 
well as to all who were brought within the sphere 
of his influence, that it is justly observed by his 
biographer, Mr. Denison, that his episcopate " will 

* Bishop Heber's Life, by his Widow, ii, 134. 



88 Lincoln's Inn. 

be memorable while the Church of England 
stands."* Besides an "Account of the Life and 
Writings of the Rev. Tho. Rennell/' and some Dis- 
courses and Sermons, Bishop Lonsdale published 
the Four Gospels, with annotations, in conjunction 
with the Ven. Archdeacon Hale. 

Rev. James S. M. Anderson, elected 12th 
January 1844. Mr. Anderson published several 
volumes of Sermons and Discourses, and the His- 
tory of the Church of England in the Colonies and 
Foreign Dependencies of the British Empire, in 
three volumes, 8vo. 

William Thomson, D.D. i6th April, 1858. 
Dr. Thomson was appointed Bishop of Gloucester 
and Bristol in December 1861, and in 1862 was 
promoted to the archiepiscopal see of York. The 
archbishop has published some of his Discourses ; 
and his ** Outline of the Necessary Laws of 
Thought" is used as a text-book on logic in 
the University of Oxford. 

Frederick Charles Cook, Canon of Exeter, 
the present preacher, was appointed on the 13 th 
Feb. 1862. Mr. Cook has published some Sermons 
preached at Lincoln's Inn, and is the editor of the 
Commentary on the Bible, with a revision of the 

* See "The Life of John Lonsdale, Bishop of Lichfield; 
with some of his Writings. Edited by his son-in-law, 
Edmund Beckett Denison, LL.D., Q.C." 8vo, 1868. 



»> 



The Chapel. — Preachers. 89 

authorised version by bishops and other clergy of 
the Anglican Church, now in the course of publi- 
cation. 

It should be mentioned here that, for the 
exercise of the sacred^ ministry in the Society, 
besides the Preacher, there is an Assistant 
* Preacher, and a Chaplain, the latter of whom, in 
addition to his duties in the chapel on Sundays 
and certain other days, attends in the hall during 
term time, a seat being allotted to him at the first 
bar table. The office of Chaplain is the oldest 
ecclesiastical office in the Society, having certainly 
existed in the time of Henry VI., and probably 
from the time when the first chapel was dedicated 
in honour of St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, 
whereas the first Preacher appears to have been 
appointed in 1581. 

In the chapel of Lincoln's Inn are also delivered 
the Warburtonian Lectures, founded by Bishop 
Warburton in 1768, for the purpose of proving 
" the truth of Revealed Religion in general, and of 
the Christian in particular, from the completion of 
the Prophecies in the Old and New Testament 
which relate to the Christian Church, especially to 
the Apostasy of Papal Rome.'* 

These Lectures have been delivered annually, 
pursuant to the will of the founder, on the first 
Sunday after Michaelmas Term, and on the Sunday 



go Lincoln's Inn. 

immediately before and after Hilary Term, but 
latterly on the Sundays after Michaelmas and 
Hilary Terms, and the first Sunday in March, sub- 
ject to occasional exceptions. An erroneous belief 
seems to have prevailed for some years that the ap- 
pointment of the Lecturer belonged to the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, but a recent investigation 
proved this belief to have been a mistake. The 
appointment is, in fact, vested in three trustees, and 
in the choice of the Lecturer preference is to be 
given to the Preacher of Lincoln's Inn.* The Lec- 
turer holds the office for four years, and is required 
by the endowment deed to publish his lectures. 

The first Lecturer was Bishop Hurd; and the 
following are the names of the succeeding Lec- 
turers who have published their Discourses : — Dr. 
Samuel Halifax, Bishop of Exeter ; Dr. Lewis 
Bagot, Bishop of St. Asaph ; Dr. East Apthorpe ; 
Archdeacon Nares (who was assistant preacher of 
Lincoln's Inn) ; Dr. Edward Pearson ; Rev. Philip 
AUwood ; Rev. John Davison ; Archdeacon Lyall ; 
Dr. Frederick Nolan ; Dr. Alexander M*Caul ; 
Archdeacon Harrison; Rev, Frederick Denison 
Maurice ; Rev. E, B. Elliott, author of the " Horae 
Apocalypticae ;" Rev. William Goode, D.D., Dean 

* See pages 153-4 of Mr. Denison^s Life of Bishop Lons- 
dale, before mentioned. 



New Square. 91 

of Ripon ; Rev, Benjamin Morgan Cowie, now 
Dean of Manchester. The following are the Lec- 
turers who have not published their Discourses : 
— Dr. Nicholson ; Dr. Layard ; Rev, Thomas Ren- 
nell ; Rev. M. Raymond ; Rev. Henry Venn Elliott ; 
Rev. Frederick Charles Cook, The present Lec- 
turer is the Rev, Hamilton Edward Gifford, D.D. 



NEW SQUARE. 

It has been stated in some of the topographical 
accounts of London that the houses forming New 
Square, or Serle Court, were built upon an open 
space of ground southward of the ancient buildings 
of Lincoln's Inn known as Little Lincoln's Inn 
Fields, or Fickett's Fields (properly Fickett's Croft), 
thus distinguished from the larger area of Lincoln's 
Inn Fields ; and this ground is so named in the 
articles of agreement entered into between Mr. 
Serle and the Society of Lincoln's Inn in the year 
1682. But by an inspection of the plan laid down 
in the map published by Mr. Parton in his Account 
of the Parish of St. Giles in the Fields, and in that 
of the Ordnance Survey of the Metropolis now in 
progress, on the scale of five feet to the mile, it 
appears that the ground originally formed part of 
the Coneygarth or Cotterell Garden. Fickett's 



92 Lincoln's Inn. 

Croft in these maps lies to the west of this spot, 
southward of Fickett's or Lincoln's Inn Fields, and 
comprises what is now the site of Portugal Street, 
King's College Hospital, &c.* The vacant space 
of ground in question, or a part of it, having been 
claimed by Henry Serle, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, 
certain agreements were entered into between this 
gentleman and the Society, under the terms of 
which Mr. Serle erected eleven houses of brick, 
each appropriated to suites of chambers, forming 
three sides of the area now named New Square, 
but originally Serle Court, the northern side being 
left open to the garden. The size of the area is 
about three hundred feet on its longer side, and 
about two hundred on the shorter. 
This square at the time of its erection was greatly 

* From these maps it appears that the site of the Old 
House of Blackfriars, afterwards the mansion of the Earl of 
Lincoln, was from the south end of the Stone Building (to 
the north of this was open ground) to the south end of Old 
Square, extending eastward to Chancery Lane ; while that 
of the Bishops of Chichester, including John HerUrum's 
Garden, extended from the end of Old Square to the south- 
east as far as the groimd which is now named Chichester 
Rents. 

It may perhaps be not without interest to remember that 
an episcopal palace was built in this vicinity by Robert de 
Chesney, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1147, adjoining the site of 
the Old Temple in Holbom. This afterwards belonged to 
the Earls of Southampton, and was called Southampton 
House. 



New Square. 93 

admired. The houses are large and substantial, 
but there seems to have been little pretension to 
decoration in the architecture. At the south- 
eastern angle of the square, is an elliptical arched 
way opening upon Carey Street, enriched with an 
architrave and broken pediment. Above this are 
two shields, bearing the lion of the Earl of Lin- 
coln, and the arms of Henry Serle, Esq., with the 
date of 1697, and the initials of William Dobyns, 
Esq. Lower down are the initials of Nathaniel 
Gooding Clarke, Esq., i8i8, Treasurer when some 
repairs were executed, and over the arch those of 
C. T. Swanston, Esq., 1848, Treasurer when the 
recent alterations and improvements were made. 

In the centre of New Square was formerly a 
Corinthian column on which was raised a vertical 
sun-dial ; and at the base of the shaft, {our jets cPeau 
arose from infant Tritons holding shells. 

The open space was inclosed by railings in the 
year 1845, and planted in compartments with trees 
and shrubs, having in the middle a basin for an 
intended fountain.* 

* It may be well to preserve here the following in- 
scriptions on the walls of houses in the New Square. The 
first is on a stone tablet in the east wall of No. ii : — Solum 
super quod haec structura erigitur, ab australi parte hujus 
saxi 54 pedes cum poUice septentrionem versus continens, 
pertinet ad Societatem hanc. Ac etiam tota terrae portio 
ab hoc saxo orientem ' versus usque ad limitem veteris 



94 Lincoln's Inn. 



THE STONE BUILDING. 

The Stone Building, so called from the material 
of which it is constructed, is at the north-eastern 
extremity of Lincoln's Inn, and presents an im- 
posing appearance from the garden. This is only 
part of a vast design, in 1780, for rebuilding the 
whole Inn, which fortunately was not persisted in. 
The drawings, still in the possession of the Society, 
are said to have been executed by Sir John Leach, 
Master of the Rolls, who was originally a pupil of 
the architect. 

Sir Robert Taylor, whose design here appears to 
the greatest advantage, had previously acquired 
reputation by his additions to the Bank of England, 
with the same intention of rebuilding the whole 
edifice, but both his designs were finally abandoned. 

structurse horto culinari proximum. Above the inscription 
are the initials of the Treasurer, Henry Long, Esq., with 
the date of 1691, and the lion of the arms of Lincoln's Inn 
in the left hand comer. On the north wall of the same 
house is the inscription : — ** This Terrace Walk was 
finished and compleated in the year of our Lord 1694. Ed- 
ward Byde, Esq., Treasurer." The third inscription is on a 
stone tablet in the north wall of No. i, and is as follows : 
• • This wall is built upon the ground of Lincoln's Inn. No 
windows are to be broken out without leave." Above are 
the initials of John Greene, Esq., Treasurer, with the Uon in 
the left hand comer, and beneath is the date of 1692. 



The Stone Building. 95 

* By keeping out of view all consideration of the 
impropriety of placing Corinthian architecture, in 
stone, in such immediate connection with the early 
picturesque gables of the adjacent houses, which 
were only of brick, this building has been highly 
praised for its elegance and simplicity. Much of 
this commendation is owing to its extent of fagade 
and to the Portland stone used in its erection, 
combined with the advantage of a beautiful situation 
unequalled at that time in London. 

Having been left for above sixty years in an 
unfinished state, it was completed in 1845 by Mr. 
Hardwick, who in the southern wing followed the 
original design ; and the two wings, the only attempt 
at relief to the length of fagade, conform with each 
other. They are enriched with a Corinthian hexa- 
style, with pilasters of the same order at the angles, 
which preserve the unity of the composition better 
perhaps than the Greek antae now more generally 
used. In these, and in the entablature, here sur- 
mounted by a pediment, the details are executed 
with much correctness. The entrances to the 
apartments are all on the eastern front, and the 
windows are plain openings, without a finishing 
ornament. A rustic arcade on the ground floor, 
and a parapet with balustrade hardly compensate 
for the want of some efficient breaks in its length ; 
and the whole front, even now, materially as it has 



96 Lincoln's Inn. 

been improved by completion, is still somewhat 
tame in character. 

The Library of the Society was in the northern- 
most wing, occupying several rooms on the ground 
floor, previously to its removal in 1845. 

As an improvement of this part of Lincoln's Inn, 
the Society, in the year 1848, caused the erection 
of stone piers and handsome iron gates, with a 
porter's lodge, forming the northern entrance from 
Chancery Lane. Over the gates are the arms of 
the Society, and on the lodge the initials of 
Clement Tudway Swanston, Esq., Treasurer. 



THE GARDENS. 

The Gardens of Lincoln's Inn were famous of 
old time, but have been greatly curtailed by the 
erection of the New Hall and Library, before which 
the venerable trees have fallen, and "the walks 
under the elms" celebrated by Ben Jonson^ to 
which Isaac Bickerstaff delighted to resort, and 
indulge in quiet meditation, have disappeared. 
Enough, however, even now remains to give a very 
cheerful aspect to the surrounding buildings ; and 
some compensation has been made by the planting 
of the area of New Square with trees and shrubs. 
^ In I and 2 Philip and Mary, the walk under the 



The Gardens. 97 

trees in the Coneygarth * or Cottrell Garden was 
made, and in 15 Car. II. A.D. 1663 the garden was 
enlarged, a terrace-walk made on the west side, 
and the wall raised higher towards Lincoln's Inn 
Fields. In the passage before cited (p. 68) from 
Mr. Pepys' Diary, 27th June 1663, mention is made 
of this enlargement of the Garden. 

In the erection of the garden- wall, probably on 
that part which separated the garden from Chancery 
Lane, which has since been displaced by other 
buildings, it is said Ben Jonson was employed in 
the early part of his life, assisting his father-in-law 
in his business, and working, as Fuller imagines, 
with a trowel in his hand, and a book in his pocket. 
The play of " Every Man out of his Humour" is 
dedicated by Ben Jonson to " the noblest nurseries 
of humanity and liberty, the Inns of Court." 

At the south end of the gardens, memorial gates 
were erected in 1872 by subscription of the Inns 
of Court Rifle Volunteers, in honour of the late 
Colonel Brewster (son of the ex- Lord Chancellor of 

* The name of Coneygarth was derived from the quantity 
of rabbits found here, and by various ordinances of the 
Society in the reigns of Edw. IV. Hen. VII. and Hen. 
VIII. penalties were imposed on the students hunting them 
with bows and arrows or darts. It is said that this garden 
had been given to the knights of St. John of Jerusalem in 
the year 1186 by William Cotterell. See Parton's Account 
of St. Giles in the Fields, p. 181. 4to, 1822. 

G 



98 Lincoln's Inn. 

Ireland), who had been the commander of that 
corps. They were designed in Belgium, and consist 
of a large central gate and two similar side ones ; 
the f^abric is light and elegant, and the screen-work 
represents memorial flowers. On the top of the 
central gate are the colonel's arms^ with his name 
and the date of 1863 ; and on each of the other gates 
is the monogram of the Inns of Court Volunteers. 

In the view of the remaining buildings, the visitor 
will scarcely have occasion to regret the failure of 
Sir Robert Taylor's grand project for the recon- 
struction of the whole Inn. Here the decided 
advantage of recurring to ancient models has not 
been overlooked, and the effect of good taste is 
abundantly apparent in the result. The four Inns 
of Court were once pleasantly characterised in the 
following distich : — 

Gray's Inn for walks, Lincoln's Inn for wall, 

The Inner Temple for a garden, and the Middle for a hall. 

But it will now doubtless be admitted that the 
architecture of Lincoln's Inn is deserving of notice 
for something beyond its wall ; and in the splendour 
of its noble hall is enabled not merely to vie with, 
but to surpass the Middle Temple. The New HaU, 
Library, and Council Rooms must now be regarded 
as the principal front of the Inn, and have obtained 
perhaps the most felicitous site for architectural 
effect which London affords. 




CHAPTER III. 



The New Hall and Library. 




T the commencement of the year 1843, 
the Benchers of Lincoln's Inn having 
determined upon the erection of a new 
Hall and Library on a scale commensurate with 
the requirements of the age, adopted the masterly 
designs submitted to them by Mr. Hardwick, an 
architect who had given evidence of talents of a 
superior order in the erection of the noble Doric 
propylaeum at the Railway Terminus in Euston 
Square,* Goldsmiths' Hall, and other edifices. By 
the skill of this gentleman, combined with the 
munificence of the Benchers, a magnificent struc- 
ture has arisen within the precincts of Lincoln's 



* Since that time at the same terminus has been erected, 
from Mr. Hardwick's designs, the magnificent hall, or 
vestibule, one hundred and thirty feet in length, sixty-two 
feet in width, and sixty-four in height, with decorations of 
corresponding grandeur. 



loo Lincoln's Inn. 

Inn, which forms one of the chief ornaments of the 
metropolis, and the style of which is in accordance 
with the venerable associations belonging to the 
early history of the Society, and the character of the 
more ancient buildings of the Inn, 

The foundation stone of the new building was 
laid on the 20th of April 1843, by the Right Hon. 
Sir J. L. Knight Bruce, Vice-Chancellor, then Trea- 
surer of the Society. On this occasion the Benchers, 
with the dignitaries who attended as visitors to 
witness the ceremony, formed a procession, which 
consisted of the Lord Chancellor (Lord Lyndhurst); 
Sir J. L. Knight Bruce, Vice- Chancellor ; the Bishop 
of Durham (Dr. Maltby, formerly Preacher to the 
Society) Archdeacon Lonsdale (afterwards Bishop 
of Lichfield, at that time Preacher) ; the Vice- 
Chancellor of England (Sir Lancelot Shadwell) ; 
Vice-Chancellor Sir James Wigram ; some of the 
Judges ; a large body of Benchers ; the Rev. 
Charles Browne Dalton, the chaplain ; Mr. Hard- 
wick, the architect ; Mr. Baker, the contractor for 
the works, &c. 

At the soutnern extremity of the garden, where 
a great number of barristers and students had 
assembled, the Treasurer took his position at the 
head of the stone prepared for the foundation, and 
briefly addressed the visitors, observing that the 
Benchers, finding that further accommodation was 



The New Hall and Library. ioi 

necessary, in consequence of the increasing number 
of their members and the continued additions made 
to their collection of books, and with a view to 
supply these wants, and at the same time to have 
due regard to the associations connected with the 
older structures, determined to preserve these 
buildings and to erect a new Hall and Library. 
. After this address, the chaplain offered a prefa- 
tory prayer. A glass box was then deposited in 
the stone, containing specimens of the current 
coins of the realm, oyer which was laid a brass 
plate with the following inscription in old English 
characters : — 

Stet lapis arboribus nudo defixus in horto 
Fundamen pulchrae tempus in omne dom{is 

Aula vetus lites et legum aenigmata servet 
Ipsa nova exorior nobilitanda coquo. 

xii Cal. Mail MDCCCXLIIL 

Mr. Hard wick then presented to the Treasurer a 
silver trowel, on which the following words were 
inscribed : — 

Hac truUi usus vir amplissimus 

J. L. Knight Bruce, Hospitii Lincolniensis 
Thesaurarius Novae Aulse fundamentum jecit 

xii Cal. Mali. MDCCCXLUL* 

Having laid the stone, the Treasurer congratu- 

• The inscriptions were written by the Vice-Chancellor 
of England. 



102 Lincoln's Inn. 

lated the Benchers and the Society on the presence 
of the eminent persons who had honoured this 
interesting ceremonial, and expressed his earnest 
hope that the same good feeling and good fellow- 
ship which had characterised the old hall would 
reign in the new. In conclusion, he requested 
Archdeacon Lonsdale to implore on their labours 
a blessing from above, without which no human 
efforts can ever hope to prosper. The archdeacon 
having offered an impressive prayer, the ceremony 
was concluded by a benediction, delivered by the 
Bishop of Durham. 

The new building, which claims attention not 
less for its architectural beauty than for its magni- 
tude, was completed within the short space of two 
years and a half from the foundation * Standing 
on an elevated terrace which affords a spacious 
promenade of nearly fifty feet in width, the edifice 
is so happily situated as to form one of the most 
conspicuously placed architectural objects in the 
metropolis, — one that shows itself advantageously 

* Mr. George Baker, of Lambeth, was the contractor for 
the work, and of the effective and conscientious manner 
in which this work was carried out, evidence has lately been 
given by the labour undergone by the workmen in the dis- 
jointment of the masonry and brickwork necessary for the 
extension of the eastern end of the Library, when a solidity 
of construction was manifested that might be worthily com- 
pared with that of the best ancient edifices. 



The New Hall. 103 

from every point of view. The accessories of foliage 
and vegetation by which it is surrounded, harmonise 
and contrast admirably with the building, — pre- 
senting an agreeable scene of very picturesque 
character. 

In the pages next ensuing the reader is invited 
to begin his survey of the exterior of the edifice 
from the entrance gate on the south-west from 
Lincoln's Inn Fields, proceeding eastward, and 
then turning round along the eastern front by the 
north to the western front of the building; and 
afterwards to begin the view of the interior by the 
principal entrance to the Hall in the southern 
tower. 

Southward of the line of building is an entrance 
gate, with a porter's lodge adjoining. The arch, 
within a square arrangement of mouldings and 
projecting dripstone, has its spandrels enriched, 
and is fianked by turrets square at the base, but 
terminated octagonally, with crocketted cupolas. 
These turrets are so constructed as to allow 
the massive oaken gates to recede within them. 
Over the arch, and between the turrets is an 
embattled parapet, having in the centre a panel 
containing a shield charged with the arms now 
used by the Society of Lincoln's Inn ; * and on the 

* These arms are : Azure, fifteen fers-de-moline, or ; on 



104 Lincoln's Inn. 

eastern side of the arch are the arms of Sir Francis 
Simpkinson. The Lodge is on the right of the 
entrance, and on each side is a postern. Over the 
northern postern, on the west side, is sculptured a 
lion holding a shield charged with the milrine ; 
and on the west side an eagle, the crest of Sir 
Francis Simpkinson. Over the gable are the arms 
of Philip Hardwick, Esq., the architect. 

This entrance, like the whole range of building, 
is of brick, with stone dressings. All the stone 
used in the exterior enrichments, which are 
numerous, was quarried at Anston, in Yorkshire ; 
but for the interior work, Caen stone was pre- 
ferred. The gate from Lincoln's Inn Fields 
opens upon the south front of the hall, towards 
New Square, which exhibits the lofty gable of its 
roof rising between two very fine large square 
towers of three stories in height, with embattled 
parapet. Beneath this parapet is an enriched 
panelled course, containing small shields in the 
compartments, charged with lions and milrines 
alternately, the badges or ensigns of the Society, 
derived from the figures in their armorial bearings. 
Between the massive towers is the great window 
of the Hall, the design of which is very beautiful 



a canton of the second, a lion rampant, purpure ; as 
blazoned by Guillim. 



The New Hall. 105 

and original. The taste and ability displayed in 
its construction have made this large feature of the 
front perfectly equal, if not superior to any of the 
grand wmdows of the sixteenth century. The 
seven lights of which it consists are divided by 
transoms ; and the space above, in the arched 
heading, is filled with elegantly arranged muUions, 
in the tracery of which small quatrefoils are 
employed with unusual advantage. Above the 
apex of the great gable of the Hall is a large 
highly ornamented niche, containing a statue of 
her Majesty, Queen Victoria, the work of Mr. John . 
Thomas, celebrated for his numerous productions 
in the decorative parts of the new Houses of 
Parliament, 

In this, the southern elevation of the Hall, the 
chimney shafts, all of moulded bricks of various 
ornamental patterns, give the most pleasing variety 
of outline to the fabric, and, rising above the battle- 
ments of the towers, produce a very fine effect. 
The brickwork is not without its decoration, the 
red bricks here, as throughout the building, being 
intersected by dark-coloured bricks, forming a 
chequered pattern.* The base of the building is 



* In the gable formed of these dark-coloured bricks, are 
the letters P. H, — the initials of the architect — ^with the date 
of the foundation, 1843. 



io6 Lincoln's Inn. 

entirely of stone, as well as the wall of the espla- 
nade extending along the eastern front. 

This noble and spacious Hall consists of six 
bays, or divisions formed by buttresses, beyond 
the towers, including the oriel. On the south-east 
the tower affords an entrance to the building, 
having an ascent to the porch on this side by a 
double flight of granite steps, well planned for 
convenience, and very picturesque in their arrange- 
ment. The arch of entrance, designed in the style 
which pervades the whole edifice, is four-centred, 
with square moulded heading, the spandrels being 
ornamented with quatrefoils ; and in the jambs 
are small shafts. Over the porch are the arms of 
the Society in a panel, above which is a clock, 
novel in its design, under a canopy of delicate 
workmanship. Five of the bays of the Hall con- 
tain the large windows, and beneath these are the 
smaller windows of the offices. The sixth and 
last bay is filled by the stately projecting oriel, 
a peculiar feature of the ancient dining-halls . 

The windows of the Hall are of four lights each, 
transomed and square-headed, each light arched, 
without cusps. Immediately above the windows is 
a string-course, enriched by grotesque and foliated 
ornaments, and above this is an embattled parapet. 
The stone coping, on the top of the merlons of the 
battlement, being carried over the embrasures, 



The New Hall and Library. 107 

gives it an air of embellishment, aided by the 
buttresses, which, rising above the parapet, termi- 
nate in small octagonal pinnacles. The large oriel 
in the last bay or division of the hall, is square in 
its projection, with buttresses at the angles. Its 
window is of five lights on the front, with two 
transoms, and one light on the return. 

The lofty roof of the Hall, of high pitch, was 
originally covered with lead, but slate has since 
been substituted, in consequence of the decay of 
the lead from chemical causes^ and from the centre 
of the ridge rises an octagonal louvre, formed of 
wood, of two stages in height ; the windows are 
square-headed, muUioned, and transomed ; and at 
every angle are pinnacles bearing small banners. 
The cupola by which it is surmounted is ribbed 
with crocketted mouldings, ornamented with gur- 
goyles, and terminated by a large weather-vane. 
At the termination of the Hall, on the northernmost 
gable of the roof, is a clustered group of ornamental 
chimney-shafts, one of the principal characteristics 
of the architecture of the sixteenth century, and 
here employed with the happiest effect. 

Between the Hall and the Library, which are the 
most prominent features of the pile, the line of 
building is lower, but is elevated in the centre by a 
large octagonal embattled lantern, the windows of 
which give light to the noble corridor communi- 



io8 Lincoln's Inn. 

eating with the grand apartments, and opening upon 
the council-room on the east, and the drawing-room 
on the west. On either side of this intermediate 
building is a large projecting oriel window, of six 
lights, transomed, with buttresses at the angles ; 
these are the windows of the council-room and 
drawing-room. 

The Library, in consequence of the want of 
space for the accommodation of books, owing to the 
rapid increase since the erection of the building in 
1845, has just received an addition of fifty-one feet 
to its length. The general design of the enlarge- 
ment and alterations having been made by E. B. 
Denison, Esq., one of the Benchers, the execution 
of the work was entrusted to Sir Gilbert Scott,* 
by whom the extension has been carried out in the 
same style of architecture as the original building, 
with the exception that windows are placed on the 
southern side of this extension ; and as there had 
been heretofore a deficiency of light in the apart- 
ment, plain cathedral glass has been substituted on 
the northern side for the beryl glazing originally 
adopted, which has now been transposed to the 
south side. 

* The building was begun in August 1871, by the con- 
tractors, Messrs. Jackson and Shaw ; but, owing to several 
unforeseen causes, the completion has been delayed until 
May 1873. 



^J 



The New Hall and Library. 109 

Beneath this extended portion of the Library 
new offices have been built, and a spacious lecture 
and class-room has been provided for the students ; 
and an open passage, affording a short commu- 
nication through the building, to avoid a circuit 
round the extended library. 

On the eastern front of the Hall, close against 
the Library, is a large porch twenty-four feet long 
internally, reached by a double flight of granite 
steps, which forms the entrance to the Benchers* 
council-rooms, and was until lately the only 
approach to the Library. Over the archway of 
the porch is a panel containing the arms of 
William Fuller Boteler, Esq., Master of the Library 
at the time of its erection. The gable over 
the doorway also bears the lion of the Earl of 
Lincoln holding a banner. The pleasing view of 
the terrace originally presented to the eye on 
ascending the flight of steps, is now interrupted 
towards the north by the extension of the build- 
ing eastward, at the extremity of which is the 
oriel of the Library, of elaborate design, and pro- 
ducing a very beautiful effect. Its projection 
is semi-octagonal, with a stone roof rising high, 
and seen above its parapet. The principal 
division of the window is of four lights, tran- 
somed, with arched heads, cusped, and spandrels 
enriched ; the splayed sides have only one light 



no Lincoln's Inn. 

each.* ■ In the ornamental parapet above the win- 
dow the buttresses at the angles enter into the 
composition, and terminate in octagonal pinnacles 
with crocketted caps. At the apex of the great 
gable of the roof of the Library is a circular shaft, 
surmounted by an heraldic animal supporting a 
staff and banner. 

At the south-eastern angle a turret has been built, 
containing a spiral staircase leading from the gar- 
den up to the Library, and affording an approach 
to the new lecture-room beneath it, thus relieving 
the main building from much of the traffic inci- 
dental to the use of the Library. This structure 
is octagonal in form, three stories in height, and 
in the first and second stories windows are placed 
in alternate faces of the octagon to give light to the 
staircase within. The embellished string-course 
which runs above the windows of the Library is 
continued round the second story, with gurgoyles 
at the angles. The third story has windows with 
richly moulded tracery, divided by long narrow 
transoms, forming a kind of lantern story. Im- 
mediately above the heads of these windows is a 
handsome carved cornice, with moulded tracery 
and corbels, surmounted by a richly traced parapet, 

* During the progress of the extension, the whole of this 
fine window was taken down with great care, stone by stone, 
and re-erected without alteration fifty feet onward. 



The New Hall. i i i 

canopied and embattled, finished with much ex- 
quisite detail. The turret is roofed in by a spire, 
covered with lead, panelled by rolls into chequered 
work, surmounted by a gilt vane. 

The northern front of the Library, not less 
deserving of notice than the Hall, being perhaps 
richer in external embellishment, and forming an 
equally conspicuous feature in the magnificent group 
of buildings, is divided by buttresses into eight large 
bays. These buttresses are terminated by pillars, 
surmounted by heraldic animals. The ample 
windows have the lights in two stages separated by 
stone compartments, each boldly sculptured with 
richly designed heraldic achievements of King 
Charles II. ; James, Duke of York, K.G. ; Queen 
Victoria ; Prince Albert, K.G. — all of whom have 
honoured the Society as visitors ; Albert Edward, 
Prince of Wales ; the Earl of Mansfield ; Lord 
Lyndhurst ; and the Earl of Hardwicke. On the 
southern side of the building, in a corresponding 
position between the lights of the windows, are 
the achievements of the Chancellors, Earl Cowper, 
Earl Camden, and Lord Brougham. At the north- 
western angle of this front is an octagonal turret, 
four stories in height, having small openings to give 
light to a staircase within ; and abutting on the 
Library is a projecting building, containing some 
of the steward's apartments. To the south of the 



112 Lincoln's Inn. 

i 
oriel is a smaller turret, also containing a staircase ' 

from the floor of the Library to the upper gallery. 

The western front of the range of building, 
towards Lincoln's Inn Fields, differs but little in 
architectural arrangement from the opposite side 
towards the garden, the main difference being the 
absence of the porches and doors. The fine oriel of 
the library on this front is more enriched, chiefly by 
variations in the battlements and in the panelling 
of the parapet over it. Here, however, the grouping 
of the architecture and the clustered chimneys have 
the best effect, and the advantage of their introduc- 
tion as prominent objects is decidedly apparent. 
On this side the building is separated from Lincoln's 
Inn Fields by a low brick wall, with stone coping ; 
and over a small entrance gate near the north front 
of the Library are the arms of Clement Tudway ' 
Swanston, Esq., Master of the Walks at the time of 
the erection. 

The porch of the principal entrance to the Hall 
on the eastern side of the southern tower, opens 
upon a wide corridor, separated from the stately 
Hall by an open-worked and glazed screen, in 
the centre of which is the doorway. This corridor 
is arranged precisely on the ancient plan, continued 
in the college halls of the Universities, a disposition 
combining grandeur with Inconvenience, and well 
adapted to the purposes of a large society. At the 



The New Hall. 



113 



opposite extremitvpf ^e corridor is the buttery- 
hatch, and a flight of stairs communicating with 
the kitchen and other offices. 

The magnificent dimensions of the Hall are of 
themselves sufficient to excite admiration, while in 
architectural beauty the room will bear comparison 
with the most admired examples.* The screen 

* A comparison of the dimensions of some of the largest 
existing halls may here perhaps be not without interest. 





Lengfth. 


Width. 


Heigrht 




feet. 


feet. 


feet. 


Lincoln's Inn 


120 


45 


62 


Inner Temple 


92 


40 


56 


Middle Temple . 


100 


42 


47 


Gray's Inn . 


70 


35 


47 


Westminster Hall 


258 


66 


no 


Guildhall, London 


153 


48 


55 


Christ's Hospital . 


187 


SI 


47 


lAmbeth Palace . 


93 


38 




Freema-sons' Hall . 


96 


38 


37 


Euston Square Terminus 


130 


62 


64 


Hampton Court . 


106 


.40 


45 


Eltham Palace 


lOI 


36 


54 


Christ Church, Oxford . 


"5 


40 


50 


Trinity Hall, Cambridge 


102 


43 


50 


New Hall, Boreham, Essex 


90 


50 


40 


Hatfield Hall, Durham 


180 


50 




St. George's Hall, Liverpool . 


170 


74 


82 


Town Hall, Birmingham 


140 


65 


65 


Hall in the Baths of Diocleti 


an, 






now the Church of S. Ma 


ria 






degli Angeli, Rome 


308 


74 


84 


Palazzo Vecchio, Florence 


184 


73 


70 


Palazzo della Ragione, Padua 


240 


80 


80 


Palazzo della Ragione, Vicenzj 


I 169 


69 




Palazzo del Podesta, Bologna 


170 


46 





H 



1 14 Lincoln's Inn. 

of this hall, a design of extreme richness, and one 
of its most beautiful features, is of carved oak, in five 
divisions, comprising a central doorway, and two 
compartments on each side, formed of arches and 
tracery, with the interstices glazed. The upper 
part of the screen, above the line of the height of the 
corridor, is an open arcade — the front of a gallery ; 
the buttresses rising from the base of the screen 
between the arches of the gallery, terminate in 
pedestals, supporting six figures of the size of life in 
dignified attitudes, representing eminent members 
of the Society. These figures, in high canopied 
niches, are of graceful proportion and elegant in 
detail, and were designed and executed by Mr. 
John Thomas, who has shown much taste and 
perception of propriety in the management of the 
various costumes. The persons thus represented 
are : Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of the 
Court of King's Bench, to whom the Library is 
indebted for a most valuable collection of legal 
manuscripts ; John Tillotson, D.D., Archbishop of 
Canterbury, one of the Preachers of Lincoln's Inn ; 
William Murray, Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief 
Justice of the Court of King's Bench ; Philip Yorke, 
Earl of Hardwicke, Lord High Chancellor of 
England ; William Warburton, D.D., Bishop of 
Gloucester, one of the Preachers, and founder of 
the Warburtonian Lectures on Prophecy, dehvered 



The New Hall. 115 

in Lincoln's Inn Chapel ; Sir William Grant, 
Master of the Rolls. The whole of this screen, with 
its ornaments, is finished with scrupulous attention. 

The sides of the hall are panelled with oak, in 
small compartments, to the height of about twelve 
feet from the floor ; the panelling is surmounted by 
a cornice, enriched with gilding and colours. Five 
large stained glass windows on either side contain 
in the upper lights above the transoms, the arms, 
crests, and mottoes of distinguished members of the 
Society, chronologically arranged, from the year 
1450 to- 1843 ; and the lower divisions of each 
window are diapered with the letters L. I., the latter 
formed by the milrine,part of the armorial bearings of 
the Inn. Above the windows, on the summit of the 
walls, is a cornice, in which colour and gilding are 
employed with success on the mouldings and carved 
ornaments. 

In the south window are now placed the royal 
arms designed by Mr. Willement, which have been 
removed from the Library ; and the other divisions 
of the window are diapered with the letter L and 
the milrine. 

The splendid roof of the hall is designed with 
so much artistic feeling that it may vie with any of 
the examples of ancient open timber roofs now 
remaining. The form is simple, and the pitch of 
considerable height. Its length is divided into 



ii6 Lncoln-s Inn. 

seven bays, or severeys. Each bay is divided by a 
vast arch, springing from stone corbels on the walls, 
having within it another arch, supported by two 
spandrels or segments of arches, exhibiting the 
principle of the construction of the fine roof in 
Westminster Hall, but admitting in its design 
various combinations in regard to the divisions and 
tracery by which the main timbers are relieved. 
The various effects of this beautiful timber-framed 
roof can only be appreciated by viewing it from 
different points in the room. The pendants are 
enriched with gilding and colour. The intricate and 
skilful disposition of the numerous timbers of this 
pendant roof, in which lightness, strength, and 
ornament are combined, is perhaps best appre- 
ciated from the dais or upper end of the hall, where 
the whole length of the roof, showing the octagonal 
lantern, is presented in one view ; and the great 
southern window, with its beautiful and intricate 
tracery, is seen over the screen and gallery. 

On the northern wall, above the panelling of the 
dais, is a noble fresco painting by Mr. George 
Frederick Watts, executed in 1859. The work 
represents an imaginary assemblage of the great 
early lawgivers of various nations, from Moses 
down to Edward I., and has been entitled " The 
School of Legislation," as bearing some analogy to 
Raphael's fresco of the *' School of Athens " in the 



The New Hall. 117 

Vatican. The dimensions are 45 feet in width, and 
40 feet in height in the centre.* 

Along the dais, on either side of the folding doors, 
are the busts, in marble, of Lord Brougham, Lord 
Denman, and Lord Lyndhurst ; the two first sup- 
ported on finely carved brackets of wood, the latter on 
a temporary pedestal. The bust of Lord Brougham, 
executed by Behnes, was presented by his lord- 
ship's brother and successor in the peerage ; that 
of Denman, by Jones, was presented by the Hon. 
G. Denman ; and that of Lyndhurst, by Morton 
Edwards, was executed at the expense of the Society. 

* " Not only by its dimensions, but by its aim and the 
treatment of its subject, this fresco by Mr. G. F. Watts, the 
designer of the Caractacus, crowned at the first Westminster 
Hall competition, fairly merits the designation of a great 
work. . . . This fresco is conspicuously distinguished from 
all the mural decorations hitherto executed in this country by 
its architectural character. . , . Mr. Watts's fresco seems 
to fit into and form part of the hall it adorns. . . . But the 
great and most gratifying characteristic of Mr. Watts's work 
is its intellectual elevation. In the election and disposition 
of his personages, the painter has manifested a comprehen- 
sive conception of a noble subject, just as much as he has 
given evidence of the finest qualities as a designer in his 
execution of the figures. 

We are confident that we are only pronouncing a judg- 
ment which will be endorsed by all competent and unpreju- 
diced judges, when we congratulate the Benchers of Lincoln's 
Inn on the possession of a work which is worthy the historic 
renown of their body, and the noblest purposes of the 
building which contains it." 

From "The Times " of Dec. 28th, 1859. 



ii8 Lincoln's Inn. 

On the panelling of the dais are the full heraldic 
achievements, removed from the old hall, of King 
Charles II., James, Duke of York, Prince Rupert, 
the Earl of Manchester, the Earl of Bath, Lord 
Henry Howard, and Lord Newport, with the date 
of February 29th, 1671. Beneath these are the 
armorial bearings of legal dignitaries who have 
been members of the Society, and these are con- 
tinued, together with the arms of bishops who have 
held the office of Preacher, along the panels on 
either side of the hall, ranged in chronological 
series from 1750 to the present time. 

On either side of the dais is a large and splendid 
oriel, about 18 feet in width, having a stone seat 
round it, and containing side-boards for the use of 
the upper table. The other tables ranged in grada- 
tion, two cross-wise, and five along the hall, are for 
the barristers and students, who dine here every day 
during Term. The average number who dine on 
one day is two hundred, and of those who dine on 
one day or the other during the Term, " keeping 
commons," is about five hundred. The western 
oriel window contains, in the upper lights, the 
armorial bearings of Ralph Neville, Bishop of Chi- 
chester, Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, William de 
Haverhyll, treasurer to King Henry III., Edward 
Sulyard, Esq., by whom the inheritance of the 
premises of Lincpln's Inn was transferred to the 



The New Hall. 119 

Society in 1580 ; and those of Lincoln's Inn, beneath 
which is the motto : " Longa Possessio est Pacis 
Jus."* In the middle of the window are the arms 
of King Charles II., within the garter, and sur- 
mounted by the crown, with the supporters and 
motto ; also the arms of James, Duke of York, and 
of Prince Rupert. On either side the quarrels of 
the whole window are diapered, like the other 
windows of the hall, with the milrine and the letter 
L. The oriel window on the eastern side contains 
all the stained glass removed from the old hall, 
consisting of the armorial insignia of noblemen, 
legal dignitaries, &c. All the heraldic decorations, 
with the exception of the eastern oriel, are the work 
of Mr. Willement, by whom the windows of the 
Temple Church, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and 
the Hall at Hampton Court, were likewise designed. 
From Hilary Term 1853 to the present time, 
lectures have been delivered in this hall during each 
educational Term to the students of the four Inns 
of Court ; and the annual oration of the Tancred*s 
Students t is also delivered here in Hilary Term. 

* The introduction of the arms of the early occupiers of the 
ground on which Lincoln's Inn is built, and the adoption of 
the motto, were suggested by R. W, E, Forster, Esq., to 
whom the Society is indebted for the list of names from which 
the selection was made of the members whose armorial 
bearings are emblazoned in the other windows of the hall. 

.t See page 60, ante. . 



120 Lincoln's Inn. 

The apartment is warmed, as is also the Library, 
by pipes containing hot water, carried beneath iron 
gratings along the floor. 

Another apartment, forming an essential appen- 
dage to all collegiate establishments, and without 
which even the splendid hall would be only suited 
for the imaginary feast of the Barmecide, is the 
Kitchen. This spacious and lofty room is forty-five 
feet square, and twenty feet high ; the ceiling is 
vaulted, and supported on massive pillars and bold 
arches. Besides the vast fire-place, one of the 
largest in England, the kitchen is well furnished 
with stoves, and all necessary appliances for the 
exercise of the culinary art. 

There is also a vast range of apartments in the 
basement story, connected with the kitchen and 
other offices, and cellars capable of holding upwards 
of a hundred pipes of wine. Above these again are 
butlers' pantries, &c., and a spacious apartment 
originally designed as a reading-room. 

From the dais of the Hall, large folding-doors 
of oak open into the spacious vestibule communi- 
cating with the Library and other apartments. 
The effect of this vestibule is more particularly 
striking if entered by way of the north-eastern 
porch, in which case — the approach being made 
through another corridor — it discloses itself unex- 
pectedly to the view of the visitor. The dimensions 



The New Hall. 121 

are fifty-eight feet in length by twenty-two in width. 
In the centre it takes an octagonal form, and the 
arches are supported by clustered pillars, from 
which spring the ribs of the vaulting that forms the 
groined roof of the lantern, enriched with bosses at 
the intersections of the ribs. At the south-west 
angle is an open recess or bay, lighted by a lofty 
window, of three lights, transomed, with arched 
heads and cusps, and forming the upper part of a 
staircase leading to the offices in the basement. 
The newel forms a pedestal to the parapet of the 
staircase, which is solid ; the hand-rail is cut out 
of the wall. Here are emblazoned, in stained glass, 
the arms of the Rt. Hon. Sir James Lewis Knight 
Bruce, William Fuller Boteler, Esq., and Sir John 
Augustus Francis Simpkinson, the Treasurers of 
1843, 1844, and 1845, during the time of the 
building of the hall. Over the door of the libra- 
rian's room is a fine bust of Cicero,* bequeathed, 

♦ On a small marble pedestal beneath the bust is the 
following inscription : — 

Sed vigilat consul, vexillaque vestra coercet. 
Municipalis Eques galeatum ponit ubique , . 

Praesidium attonitis, et in omni gente laborat. 
Tantum igitur, muros intra, toga contulit illi 
Nominis et tituli, quantum non Leucade, quantum 
Thessaliae campis, Octavius abstulit udo 
Csedibus assiduis gladio : sed Roma parentem, 
Roma patrem patriae Ciceronem libera dixit. 

Juvenal, Sat. VIIL 



122 Lincoln's Inn. 

together with a large collection of books, several 
pictures, &c., in 1785, by John Coxe, Esq., one of 
the Benchers of the Society. 

On the eastern side of the vestibule is the Council 
Chamber, and opposite to it on the western side, 
the Drawing-room. These rooms, though without 
much decoration, are admired for their noble pro- 
portions. The dimensions of each room are thirty- 
two feet by twenty-four, and twenty-one feet in 
height. A large square-headed oriel window is the 
principal feature in each, and the lower parts of the 
spacious lights are filled with plate glass, an 
agreeable variation from the ancient mode of 
glazing with small quarrels of glass, generally 
adopted throughout the building. The chimney- 
pieces, of Caen stone, are large, and of handsome 
design ; that in the Drawing-room projects into the 
apartment, having panels sunk, with prominent 
shields, and small octagonal pillars at the angles, 
supporting upright heraldic animals, executed in a 
very spirited manner. The rooms are panelled in 
small compartments, to the height of about ten feet. 
The ceilings are flat, ribbed, and panelled,, with 
bosses at the intersections ; they are formed of deal, 
stained and varnished. The large oriel of the 
Drawing-room affords a pleasing view of the gardens 
of Lincoln's Inn Fields, laid out with much taste, 
where flourishing plantations, with a profusion of 



Drawing-room and Council Chamber. 123 

gay flowering shrubs, give to the room an aspect 
cheerful beyond expectation in the heart of a 
crowded city. 

On the walls of the Drawing-room are the 
following portraits of legal dignitaries and eminent 
members of the Society : — 

John Glanville, Justice of the Court of 
Common Pleas, 1598. A three-quarter. 

Sir John Glanville, Speaker of the House of 
Conmions, 1640. A three-quarter. 

Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of the 
Court of King's Bench, 1671. A three-quarter, 
by M. Wright. Acquired by the Society at the 
same time with his collection of manuscripts. 

Sir Richard Rainsford, Lord Chief Justice, 
K.B. 1676. iEtat. 74. A three-quarter, painted by 
Gerard Soest. Bequeathed to the Society by 
Richard Buckley, Esq., one of the Masters of the 
Bench, in 17 18. 

The Rt Hon. Earl Bathurst, Lord High 
Chancellor of England, 1771. A full-length, by Sir 
N. Dance. Presented by the late body of Sworn 
Clerks in Chancery, 1848. 

Sir John Skynner, Lord Chief Baron, 1777. 
A three-quarter, by Gainsborough. 

The Rt. Hon. Henry Addington, Speaker of 
the House of Commons. Presented by John Hodg- 
son, Esq., one of the Masters of the Bench, 1848. 



124 Lincoln's Inn. 

Sir William Grant, Master of the Rolls. A 
three-quarter, by Harlow. Presented by Francis 
Vesey, and Edward V. Utterson, Esqrs. 

Francis Hargrave, one of the Masters of the 
Bench, Treasurer in 1813. A half-length, by Sir 
Joshua Reynolds. 

Sir Alexander Thomson, Baron of the Ex- 
chequer 1787, Lord Chief Baron 18 14. A three- 
quarter, by Opie. 

The Rt. Hon. Sir Lancelot Shadwell, Vice- 
Chancellor of England, 1 827-1 850. A three-quarter, 
painted by Phillips, R.A., 1844. Presented by his 
family in 1854. 

The Rt. Hon. W. Pitt. A three-quarter, by 
Gainsborough. Presented in 1868 by Lady Turner, 
in accordancewith the wish and intention expressed 
by Lord Justice Sir George James Turner. 

Here are likewise two half-length portraits, in 
oval frames, attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller; one 
of them resembling Lord Somers, the other a lady 
unknown. 

There is also in this room a large drawing in 
water-colours by Joseph Nash, of the Interior of the 
Hall, as at the ceremony of inauguration. 

To the adornments of this room there has 
been lately added a large picture of MiLO of 
Crotona, by Giorgione, presented by Robert P. 
Roupell, Esq., one of the Benchers of the Society, 



Drawing-room and Council Chamber. 125 

in 1870. The dimensions are about six feet in 
height, by seven in breadth.* 

The moment chosen by the painter for his subject 
is that when the athlete, with his hands imprisoned 
by the rebound of the trunk of the tree which his 
strength had riven asunder, is attacked by the 
hon. 

" He, who of old would rend the oak, 

Dream'd not of the rebound ; 
Chain'd by the trunk he vainly broke — 

Alone — how look'd he round ? 

. * . • • 

He fell, the forest-prowlers' prey." Byron. ' 

In the Council-room are the following por- 
traits : — 
Sir John Franklin, with this inscription :— 
Sir John Franklin, of Mavoum, in the county of 
Bedford, Knight, one of the Masters in ordinary of the 

* This picture was formerly in the Orleans Gallery, the 

principal part of which collection came to this country after 

I the first French revolution, and was sold by Mr. Christie by 

I public auction early in the present century, when the picture 

was bought by Lord Damley. Lord Damley sold it by 

auction at Christie's a few years ago, and it was bought at 

that sale*by Mr. Roupell, by whom it was presented to the 

Society of Lincoln's Inn. Mr. Roupell states that he had 

it carefully cleaned, and that it is now in finer condition than 

I during the period of its possession by the Duke of Orleans, 

\ — Extract from Mr, Roupell s Letter^ July 7th, 1870. 

f The rare engraving by Nicollet accompanied the picture ; 

the engraving is attributed traditionally to the hand of 

Giorgione himself. 



126 Lincoln's Inn. 

High Court of Chancery for the space of thirty-three 
years, obiit August the 7th, 1707, and lies interred in the 
parish church of .Bonehurst, in the county of Bedford. 

The Rt. Hon. Philip Yorke, Earl of Hard- 
WICKE, Lord High Chancellor of England, 1737. 
A three-quarter. Copy from a portrait by Ramsay. 
Presented by the Earl of Hardwicke in 1847. 

John CoxeJ one of the Masters of the Bench, 
Treasurer in 1775. A three-quarter. 

Edward Russell, Admiral, 1690. Bequeathed 
by F. A. Carrington, Esq., i860. A three-quarter. 

The Rt. Hon. SiR Dudley Ryder, Knt., Bencher 
of Lincoln's Inn, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 
1 754- 1 75 7. Presented by his descendant, Dudley, 
second Earl of Harrowby. A full-length. 

There are also several copies from the old masters, 
as Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola ; Christ 
breaking bread with the disciples at Emmaus, after 
Titian ; &c. Besides these, there is a portrait of a 
lady with a guitar, by William Etty, R.A., pre- 
sented by the late Charles Purton Cooper, Esq., 
one of the Masters of the Bench. 

In the Drawing-room has been placed, in testi- 
mony of the regard and esteem in which he was held 
by his brethren of the Bench, a marble bust of the 
late Clement Tudway Swanston, Esq., executed by 
Evan Thomas, supported on a pedestal of polished 
granite, with the following inscription : — 



I 

The Library. 127 

Amicoram opera positum est marmor, faventibus 
Thesaurario caeterisque collegis suis, quos in hoc sodalitio 
Lincolniensi omnibus bonis officiis sibi devinxerat ; ut 
superesset ad posteros, cum memoria candidissimi animi 
et multiplicis doctrinae, forma etiam et vultus tam can viri 
Clementis Tudway Swanston. A.D. MDCCCLVI. 

The walls both of the Council-room and Drawing- 
room are adorned with a very extensive and valu- 
able collection of engravings from portraits of legal 
dignitaries, eminent prelates, &c., from an early 
period, a great number of whom have been 
connected with the Society. 

At the north-eastern angle of the vestibule is the 
corridor of approach to the Library from the terrace 
in the garden. This is groined and arched in stone, 
and divided into an inner and outer porch by folding- 
doors, glazed.* 

The folding-doors of the Library are of oak, 
resembling those of the Hall, to which they are 
directly opposite. On entering, immediately in 
front of the doors, was seen till lately the rich 
stained glass window, containing the arms of Queen 
Victoria, which has been removed to the south 

* It should have been mentioned in the description of the 
exterior of the building that the approach to this entrance 
is through iron gates opening on a carriage-way into the 
garden. On the north ^ide of these gates a porter's lodge 
was built in 1852, having the arms of Christopher Temple, 
Esq. , Treasurer, over the doorway, and the arras of Lin- 
coln's Inn on the sides. 



128 Lincoln's Inn. 

window of the Hall. This is one of the most beau- 
tiful heraldic compositions ever executed ; the 
brilliant colours, and the broad treatment of the 
design, make it one of the finest examples of this 
splendid mode of embellishment. This window, as 
well as the other armorial insignia now transposed 
to the windows on the south side of the room, was 
designed by Mr. Willement, 

This noble apartment, containing the valuable 
collection of Books belonging to the Society, is now 
one hundred and thirty-one feet in length from east 
to west, exclusive of the depth of the great oriels at 
the extremities, which are each about six feet more, 
and form three sides of an octagon ; their width is 
about seventeen feet. The breadth of the Library 
is forty feet, and its height forty-four feet. The 
roof, of open oak, differs in composition from that 
of the Hal], but is equally remarkable for skill and 
elegance in its design, which exhibits much 
originality. It is in eight divisions, formed by 
trusses with very large pendants, with a series of 
arches against the side walls, supported on stone 
corbels. The timbers are relieved by deep 
mouldings, and there is some carving both on the 
corbels and pendants ; the ceiling above the frame- 
work is in long panels, the ribs of which are 
moulded — enrichments which show a judicious 
attention to the most ancient models. 



The New Hall and Library. 129 

The admiration excited by the lofty propor- 
tions of this room is heightened by the excellence 
of the plan of its arrangement, the whole of its 
internal decoration, and the size and bold projec- 
tion of the magnificent oriel windows with their 
enriched soffits, mouldings, and clustered pillar- 
shafts. In fact, it would be difficult to name a 
library that would not lose by comparison with this 
admirable specimen of architecture, though it is ex- 
ceeded by some collegiate libraries in dimensions.* 
The recesses of the oriel windows are elevated above 
the level of the floor, and reach in height above 
thirty feet ; the ceilings are groined, having pendants 
on a small scale, and roses carved at the intersection 
of the ribs of the vaulting. These beautiful features 
of ancient architecture are enriched with heraldic 
insigfnia, each window displaying arms of the present 
Benchers of Lincoln's Inn. On the northern side 
the Library is lighted by eight large square-headed 
windows of three lights, arched, divided by a 
transom. 

The three windows on the southern side of the 
extension have also three lights, and contain three 

* The Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, is 200 feet 
in length, 42 feet in width, and 37 feet in height ; that of All 
Souls, Oxford, is 198 feet in length, 32 feet in width (51 in 
the central recess), and 40 feet in height. The length of 
the New Library at Guildhall is 100 feet, the width 65 feet, 
and the height 50 feet. 

I 



I30 Lincoln's Inn. 

heraldic achievements in each light — arms of some 
of the present Benchers.* The glass of these win- 
dows is worthy of notice, consisting of small circular 
panes termed beryl glazing, by the peculiar manu- 
facture of which a sparkling brilliancy is produced 
when the rays of the sun fall upon them.t 

The book-cases, of handsome design,in projecting 
piers brought out at right angles to the walls on 
each side, form separate recesses about ten feet 
square. To the upper shelves convenient access 
is afforded by light iron galleries, and above 
the book-cases is another gallery against each wall 
extending through the whole length of the room. 

Access to the upper galleries is afforded by stone 
staircases at the west end of the room ; and to the 
lower galleries by four iron spiral staircases of 
light and elegant construction, one at each corner. 
To the eastern end of the south upper gallery access 
is also afforded by the staircase in the new turret ; 
and to the eastern end of the north upper gallery, 
by the construction of a staircase through one of 
the book-cases. At one end of the room is a lectern 
of oak, of appropriate design, on which is placed a 
copy of the printed Catalogue of the Books, mounted 

» The same arrangement of arms has been adopted in the 
hall of Trinity College, Cambridge. 

t Perhaps the best view of this fine room is obtained from 
either of the extremities of the upper gallery, where the line 
of view is quite unbroken. 



The New Hall and Library. 131 

on writing paper of folio size, with blank columns 
opposite to each printed page, so that all additions 
may be inserted in their proper order. The valu- 
able collections of manuscripts belonging to the 
Society, a considerable portion of which was 
bequeathed by Sir Matthew Hale, are deposited in 
two rooms opening from the upper gallery on the 
south side of the Library. 

On the completion of the buildings, in 1845, the 
ceremony of inauguration took place on the 30th of 
October in that year, being honoured by the pre- 
sence of her Majesty, Queen Victoria. A brief nar- 
rative of the ceremonial observed on this occasion, 
compared with the description of the entertainment 
given to K. Charles II., may serve to illustrate the 
difference of manners in the nineteenth century. 

On the appointed day, the Benchers and Barris- 
ters having assembled in the hall, the Queen, with 
H.R-H. Prince Albert, attended by her ladies in 
waiting, and the high officers of her household, 
arrived at the Inn about half-past one o'clock, with 
a military escort, and were received at the south- 
eastern entrance by the Treasurer, Benchers, and 
Cabinet Ministers. Her Majesty, amidst loud and 
hearty acclamations, proceeded up the central 
avenue of the hall to the Council-room, and thence 
to the Library, where she held a brief levee, the 
Benchers, four senior Barristers, four of the 



132 Lincoln's Inn. 

Students, and Mr. Hardwick, the architect, being 
severally presented to her, after which the following 
address was read by the Treasurer on his knee : — 

" To THE Queen's most excellent Majesty. 

" The humble Address of the Treasurer and 
Masters of the Bench, and the Barristers and 
Fellows of the Society of Lincoltis Inn, 

" Most Gracious Sovereign, 

"We, your Majest/s faithful subjects, the 
Treasurer and Masters of the Bench, and the 
Barristers and Fellows of the Society of Lincoln's 
Inn, entreat your Majesty's permission humbly to 
testify the joy and gratitude inspired by your august 
presence. 

" The edifice, in which under such happy aus- 
pices we are for the first time assembled, is adorned 
with memorials of many servants of the Crown 
eminent for their talents, their learning, and their 
integrity. To the services, as recorded in history, 
of these our distinguished predecessors, we appeal 
in all humility for our justification in aspiring to 
receive your Majesty beneath this roof. 

" Two centuries have nearly passed away since 
the Inns of Court were honoured by the presence of 
the reigning Prince. We cannot, therefore, but feel 
deeply grateful for a mark so conspicuous of your 



The New Hall and Library. 133 

Majesty's condescension, and of your gracious 
regard for the profession of the law. 
, " It is our earnest desire to deserve this proof of 
your Majesty's favour by a zealous execution of the 
trust reposed in us — ^to guard and maintain the 
dignity of the Bar of England. 

" In our endeavours to this end we shall but 
follow in the course which it has been your Majesty's 
royal pleasure to pursue. Signally has your Ma- 
jesty fostered the independence of the Bar and the 
purity of the Bench, by distributing the honours 
which you have graciously bestowed on the profes- 
sion among the members of all parties in the state. 

"Permit us, also, most gracious Sovereign, to 
offer to your Majesty our sincere congratulations on 
the great amendments of the law which have been 
effected since your Majesty's accession to the throne 
throughout many portions of your vast empire. 

" The pure glory of these labours will be dear to 
your Majesty's royal heart, for it arises from the 
welfare of your subjects. 

" That your Majesty may long reign over a loyal, 
prosperous, and contented people is our devout and 
fervent prayer to Almighty God." 

To this address her Majesty was graciously 
pleased to return the following answer : — 

" I receive with cordial satisfaction this dutiful 
address. 



134 Lincoln's Inn. 

"My beloved Consort and I have accepted with 
pleasure your invitation, for I recognise the 
services rendered to the Crown at various periods 
of our history by distinguished members of this 
Society ; and I gladly testify my respect for the 
profession of the law, by which I am aided in 
administering justice, and in maintaining the prero- 
gatives of the Crown and the rights of my people. 

" I congratulate you on the completion of this 
noble edifice ; it is worthy of the memory of your 
predecessors, and of the station which you occupy 
in connection with the Bar of England. 

" I sincerely hope that learning may long flourish, 
and that virtue and talent may rise to eminence 
within these walls." 

The address and the answer having been read, 
the honour of knighthood was conferred upon the 
Treasurer, and his Royal Highness, Prince Albert, 
was invited to become a member of the Society, to 
which he at once assented. Her Majesty was then 
pleased to write her name in the Admittance Book 
recording the names of the royal and illustrious 
visitors in the reign of Charles II. The Prince 
entered his name after that of her Majesty ; and to 
the royal autographs were added those of the Lord 
Chancellor, the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis 
of Exeter, the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Liverpool, 
the Earl De La Warr, the Earl of Jersey, the Earl 



The New Hall and Library. 135 

of Hardwicke, the'Earl of Lincoln, Lord George 
Lennox, Sir James Graham, the Hon. Col. Grey, 
the Hon. Captain Alexander N. Hood, Col. 
Bouverie, and Captain Francis Seymour. 

The ceremony in the Library being concluded, 
the Queen, with Prince Albert, the other illustrious 
guests, and the Benchers, proceeded to the Hall, 
where, occupying a chair of state on the dais, her 
Majesty, having granted permission to the assembly 
to be seated, partook of the banquet prepared for 
the occasion. On the right of the Queen sat Prince 
Albert ; next to his Royal Highness, the Lord 
Chancellor, supported by the Duke of Wellington 
and the Earl of Aberdeen. On the left of her 
Majesty sat the Treasurer ; then one of the ladies 
in waiting ; and next, the Earl of Hardwicke, and 
others of the court. Opposite to his Royal High- 
ness Prince Albert was seated William Selwyn, 
Esq., one of the senior Benchers of the Society, 
under whose direction the Prince had studied the 
principles of English law. 

At the close of the banquet, the Treasurer, havinij 
received permission, proposed successively the 
health of " Her Majesty, the Queen," and that of 
** His Royal Highness, Prince Albert, who had that 
day become a member of the Society." His Royal 
Highness, after returning thanks, said that he had 
received her Majesty's commands to propose as a 



136 Lincoln's Inn. 

toast, " Prosperity to the Honourable Society of 
Lincoln's Inn." The Queen departed about three 
o'clock, having been pleased to declare herself highly- 
gratified, and proceeded down the centre of the 
hall, attended by the Ministers and Benchers in the 
same order as on her Majesty's arrival, Prince 
Albert wearing a student's gown over his field- 
marshal's uniform. 

The gallery in the hall was occupied by ladies ; 
and beneath the gallery was stationed the band of 
the Coldstream Guards, who played during the 
repast. About four hundred members of the Society 
sat at the tables, which were ranged along the hall 
transversely to the upper table. 

This royal visit must be regarded as a memorable 
event in the annals of Lincoln's Inn, and "this 
festival," it has been observed, " was not one merely 
of pageantry. It was not a repetition of that which 
took place after the restoration of Charles 11. The 
days have gone by when such might have been its 
exclusive character. It was one in which the 
Monarch honoured by her presence an event in- 
teresting to the people, and, in graciously accepting 
and acknowledging their cordially expressed loyalty, 
heard and responded to sentiments which at once 
dignify and confirm it." 



CHAPTER IV. 




THE LIBRARY. 
Foundation, Progress and Arrangement. 

T the time of laying the foundation of 
the noble pile of building described in 
the preceding pages, an inscription was 
deposited with the stone, intimating that a structure 
was about to arise which would be ennobled by 
the banquetings and festive meetings to be held 
within its walls. If the magnificent apartment 
which now forms the dining-hall of the Society be 
honoured by such uses, how much more highly 
dignified is that portion of the building appropriated 
to their Library, where the taste and skill of the 
architect have been exerted to provide a suitable 
repository for their valuable collection of books ; 
where stores of intellectual wealth from every clime 
and age are accumulated ; where the mind of the 
student may be enlightened by the writings of the 
learned of his own profession, animated and guided 



138 Lincoln's Inn. 

in the onward path of duty by the lessons of the 
divine, and encouraged by the bright examples 
recorded in the pages of the historian. 

The long prevalent opinion, which had been 
regarded in the profession almost as an axiom not 
to be questioned, that law must be divorced from 
literature, has given way to juster views of the 
character of legal science. " From Lord Bacon, 
whose legal acquirements formed a massive frame- 
work for those visions of future wisdom in which 
he half anticipated the discoveries of ages, down to 
the present timq, the annals of the bar are rich in 
histories of men who have loved literature not only 
well, but wisely. The old lawyers exulted in 
blending their classical recollections with their 
professional learning." * 

The great importance of literature and science 
to the practical lawyer is ably demonstrated in an 
essay on Legal Education in the Law Review. 
The writer maintains that a foundation should by 
all means be laid broad and deep of general 
learning; that the classics ought chiefly to be 
studied, as the most efficient means of refining the 
taste and attaining proficiency in the oratorical 
art ; and that the moral and physical sciences are 
also very essential, the former being eminently 
useful to those who have to reason upon evidence 

* Law Magazine. 



The Library. 139 

and probabilities, to discuss points of duty, and to 
discriminate between shades of guilt ; and the 
physical sciences demanding attention, because 
cases continually occur in the courts of justice 
which turn upon principles of natural philosophy 
and niceties in the mechanical and chemical arts.* 
The same writer adds that no man can be an 
accomplished lawyer without a knowledge of 
history, especially that of his own country, and 
some acquaintance with the legal systems of other 
countries ; and that they who have studied the 
ablest arguments in our courts must be aware 
what sources both of reasoning and illustration the 
comparative view of other systems has afforded. 

The original foundation of the Library of 
Lincoln's Inn is of earlier date than that of any 
now existing in the metropolis. In the 13th year of 
the reign of Henry VII. A.D. 1497, "Jo^" Nether- 
sale, late one of this Society, bequeathed forty 
marks, partly towards the building of a Library 
here for the benefit of the students of the laws of 
England, and partly that every priest of this house, 

* The importance of a knowledge of chemistry was exem- 
plified in a case which occurred some years ago at Caermar- 
then on a charge of uttering two counterfeit sovereigns, when 
the solicitor employed for the defence proved the coins to 
be genuine by immersing them in nitric acid, by the action 
of which the coating of mercury, with which the gold had 
become accidentally amalgamated, was removed. 



I40 Lincoln's Inn. 

in the celebration of divine service every Friday, 
should sing a mass of requiem, &c. for the soul of 
the said John." This building, the site of which is 
not now known, was finished in th^ 24th Henry 
VII. Previously to their removal to the edifice in 
which they are now commodiously arranged, the 
lw»oks occupied a suite of rooms in the Stone 
Building, to which they had been transferred in 
the year 1787 from the Old Square. There are 
various entries in the records of the Society relating 
to the Library in the reign of Elizabeth. It seems, 
however, that little progress was made in the 
accumulation of books ; for, at a Council held in 
6th James I. A.D. 1608, "because the Library was 
not well furnished with books, it was ordered that 
for the more speedy doing thereof, every one that 
should thenceforth be called to the Bench in this 
Society should give twenty shillings towards the 
buying of books for the same Library ; and every 
one thenceforth called to the Bar, thirteen shillings 
and fourpence, all which sums to be paid to Mr. 
Matthew Hadde, who, for the better ordering of 
the said Library was then made Master thereof." 
Three years afterwards it was ordered that Mr. 
Hadde, thus constituted the first Master of the 
Library, an office now held in annual rotation by 
each Bencher, " should buy and provide for the 
Library 'Fleta' and such other old books and 



The Library. 141 

manuscripts of the Law, and to cause those that 
be ill bound to be new bound." At a subsequent 
meeting it was ordered " that ten pounds should 
be paid by Mr. Hadde out of the money received 
from Sir William Sedley for copies of 'Corpus 
Juris Civilis/ in six volumes, and 'Corpus Juris 
Canonici,' in three volumes, and that he should 
cause them to be bound with bosses without 
chains,* and pay the charges of binding out of that 
money." 

The Library has been enriched at various periods 
by donations from members of the Society. One 
of the earliest of these benefactors was Ranulph 

— . ■ ■ 

* It was formerly the custom in public libraries to fasten 
books with chains to the shelves or book-cases ; £md many 
of the volumes in Lincoln's Inn Library still retain, attached 
to their covers, the iron rings by which they were secured. 
In these cases an iron rod was passed through the rings of 
the books as they were ranged on the shelves, and fastened 
by a padlock at the end ; — ^an usage practised till the last 
century in most collegiate and public libraries, A curious 
instance of what certainly has some appearance of laxity in 
the custody of libraries in former times is thus naively 
related by Dugdale, in his account of the Middle Temple : 
• * They now have no Library, so that they cannot attaine to 
the knowledge of divers learnings, but to their great charges, 
by the buying of such bookes as they lust to study. They 
had a simple Library, in which were not many bookes 
besides the Law; and that Library, by meanes that it stood 
allwayes open, and that the learners had "not each of them 
a key unto it, it was at the last robbed and spoiled of all 
the bookes in it," — Origines Jurididales^ p. 197. ed. i68o. 



142 Lincoln's Inn. 

Cholmeley,* Serjeant at Law, and Recorder of the 
City of London, and three times Reader at Lincoki's 
Inn, in the reigns of Edw. VI., Philip and Mary, 
and Elizabeth. To him the Library is indebted for 
several rare volumes of the early Year Books,t 
four of which had belonged to William Rastell, 
nephew of Sir Thomas More, and one of the 
Judges of Common Pleas, and contain his auto? 
graph ; a very beautiful copy of the first edition of 
Fitzherbert's Abridgement, with Rastell's Tables 
to the same ; a MS. of Bracton, of the 14th century, 
on vellum ; three volumes of early Statutes, MSS. 
on vellum jj and two volumes of MS. Reports of 
various years in the reigns of Edw, III. Ric II. 
and Hen. IV. 

Besides copies of his own multifarious writings, 
including his invaluable " Records," the celebrated 

* Ranulph Cholmeley died in 1563. In the inscription 
on his monument in St. Dunstan's Church is the following 
passage : 

Non deerant artes generoso pectore dignae, 
Doctus et Anglorum jure peritus erat. 

+ The Year-Books, as well as the other volumes presented 
by Ranulph Cholmeley, chiefly in the original oak binding, 
have a small paper label, containing the title of the work 
with the name of the donor curiously fastened on the side 
of the covers under a piece of transparent horn. These 
volumes, on account of the decay of the oak covers, have 
been lately re-bound. 

X These are respectively, i Edw. III. — 3 Hen. V. ; 1 
Hen. IV.— 20 Hen. VI. ; 1 Edw. III.— 19 Hen. VII, 



The Library. 143 

William Prynne presented to the Library a copy of 
the works of St. Augustine, in eight vols, folio, and 
two volumes of Acts, Declarations, &c. of 1 2 Car. 
1 1. Many of the volumes given by Prynne contain 
inscriptions in his own handwriting. 

In the year 1676 the Society acquired by the 
bequest of Sir Matthew Hale the large collection 
of Manuscripts made by that eminent person. This 
collection, besides a great number of valuable legal 
and historical documents, including various tran- 
scripts of Public Records, contains some writings 
of Archbishop Usher, and many papers in the 
handwriting of Selden, the legal MSS. of that great 
scholar not having been sent to the Bodleian 
Library with the rest of his books. There is only 
one volume of Sir Matthew Hale's own writings. 
This is a large folio, closely written, in the manner 
of a law common-place book, and is called by him 
" The Black Book of the New Law." * 

A collection of Pamphlets, chiefly theological and 
political, some of them very curious, forming 



* The following manuscripts in the handwriting of Sir 
Matthew Hale have been recently acquired by the Society : 
A Treatise De Praerogativa Regis, folio. Incepta de Juribus 
Coronae, folio. A Treatise on the Judicature of the King's 
Council and Parliament, 4to. The Jurisdiction of the 
Lords' House or Parliament considered according to Ancient 
Records, 4to. A Tract on the Leading Principles of the 
Law of Nature, 4to. 



144 Lincoln's Inn. 

thirty-nine volumes in 4to. and folio, was given to 
the Library in 1706 by John Brydall, Esq., author 
of many legal works. 

The Library of John Coxe, Esq., a Bencher of 
Lincoln's Inn, consisting of many manuscripts in 
his own handwriting, together with about 5000 
volumes of printed books in legal, historical, and 
various other branches of literature, became the 
property of the Society in 1785, by his bequest 

William Melmoth, Esq., bequeathed to the 
Society in 1799 six volumes of MS. Reports, and a 
seventh containing a Table of Matters, compiled by 
his father, William Melmoth, consisting of Chancery 
Cases from 1700 to 1742. 

A munificent donation was made to the Library 
in 1843, by Charles Purton Cooper, Esq., who pre- 
sented a collection of books on the civil law and on 
the laws of foreign nations, consisting of nearly 2000 
volumes, in various languages, many of them of great 
rarity and in very fine condition. Mr. Cooper had 
also previously given a valuable collection of Ameri- 
can Law Reports, consisting of about 150 volumes. 

Several MSS. of Lord Colchester, Speaker of 
the House of Commons, consisting of thirty-one 
volumes, chiefly containing Reports of Cases in 
Law and Equity in his lordship's handwriting, were 
presented in 1848, by his son's widow, the Hon. 
Frances Cecil Abbot. One or two of the volumes 



The Library. 145 

appear to consist of original Reports, by the Hon. 
Philip Abbot, the second son of Lord Colchester. 

Many other donations have been made by the 
liberality of individuals, by the directors and 
curators of libraries and institutions, and by public 
authorities, but want of space prevents the enumera- 
tion here of the names of the various donors. 

In 1808, the collection of legal MSS. of Mr. 
Serjeant Hill, consisting chiefly of Notes of Cases 
by himself or his learned contemporaries, was 
purchased of his executors. In 1818, the legal MSS. 
of John Maynard, Esq., King's Serjeant in the 
reign of Charies II., and one of the Conunissioners 
of the Great Seal in the reign of William and Mary, 
which had passed through various hands, were 
purchased by the Society. At the time of the 
removal, the books (including the manuscripts) 
were about 18,000 in number, but have since 
been increased to the number of nearly 40,000 ; 
and, in addition to a collection of law books, ad- 
mitted to be the most complete in this country, here 
are to be found many works of great importance 
and interest to persons whose pursuits are directed 
to the study of the history and antiquities of the 
kingdom. 

A Catalogue of the Books, containing a very 
small portion of the present collection, was printed 
in the year 1835 ; and a Catalogue of the Manu- 



146 LiNcoLN^s Inn. 

scripts, by the Rev. Joseph Hunter, in 1838. In 
1859 another Catalogue of the Books was printed ; 
it is alphabetically arranged, with an index of 
subjects. Three Supplements have since been 
printed, the last in 1872. 

A few observations on the much agitated question 
of the arrangement of Catalogues may not be 
entirely out of place here. " As indexes have been 
called the soul of books, so catalogues may be 
styled the soul of libraries. Without them the 
largest collection would be comparatively useless. 
It is desirable that every catalogue should contain 
a succinct, and, at the same time, full abstract of 
the title-pages of the different books, with the 
number of the editions, the names of the authors and 
editors or annotatoi"s at length, the place and date 
of publication, the size of the volume, and the name 
of its printer, if it be" an ancient copy. It may not 
unfrequently happen, in the course of our studies, 
that it will be desirable to consult a particular 
edition of a book — perhaps to verify the text of the 
edition we possess ourselves, or to observe the 
comments of the editor. A good catalogue should 
enable us at once to determine whether the library 
contains the edition in question, and should exhibit 
a complete bibliographical view of all the works 
therein. The alphabetical arrangement has always 
seemed much preferable to any arrangement made 



The Library. 147 

with reference either to the subjects or to the sizes 
of the volumes. The main object of a catalogue is 
to facilitate the use of the library ; of course, such 
arrangement should be adopted as will best sub- 
serve this end ; and this appears to be the alpha- 
betical arrangement. The inquirer can turn, as 
readily as in a dictionary, to the name of the author 
he wishes to find."* 

The books are arranged on the shelves in classes, 
and on taking a survey o( the Library from the 
entrance near the east oriel window, the eye of the 
visitor may range over a vast collection of Treatises 
on every branch of English jurisprudence from the 
earliest period to the present day ; then over the 
Reports of Cases argued in all the Courts of Law ; 
and then over the voluminous collections of the 
Journals of the Houses of Parliament, and the Cases 
heard on Appeal before the House of Lords and 
the Privy Council, passing on to the volumes con- 
taining the Statutes of the Realni> Public, Local, 
and Private. On the opposite side of the room the 
observer may notice a goodly assemblage of the 
works of English and foreign divines, with editions 
of the Bible in various languages ; the poetS; 
historians, philosophers, and orators of Greece and 
Rome ; dictionaries of various languages, and other 

* American Jurist, xiii. 383-4, 



148 Lincoln's Inn. 

philological works; the principal writers, ancient 
and modern, on English History and Topography ; 
Foreign History ; and a selection of works on Civil 
and Foreign Law. In the Upper Gallery is ranged 
a collection of books . on Civil and Foreign Law, 
occupying nearly the whole of one side of the room ; 
and on the opposite side of the gallery may be 
observed the more voluminous historical works, 
such as Graevius and Gronovius, Muratori, &c., 
with the Mdmoires de TAcad^mie, and that monu- 
ment of the wondrous extension of the Papal power 
and dominion, the Bullarium Romanum. 

In his notice of the various classes of books, in 
the former edition of this work, the librarian had 
thought fit to begin the description with the class 
of Theology, as forming the basis of laws and 
social institutions ; but as this library is designed 
expressly for the prosecution of legal studies, he 
now deems it more appropriate to begin the survey 
with the books on jurisprudence, giving bibliogra- 
phical details of the earlier writers on English Law, 
with some notice of those on Civil and Foreign 
Law, and, owing to the narrow space imposed by the 
limits of this work, touching but slightly on the class 
of Theology, and passing very briefly over the other 
classes of Literature. 



The Library. 149 



ENGLISH LAW. 

I. TREATISES. 2. REPORTS. 3. STATUTES. 

4. TRIALS. 

So well Stored are the shelves of the Library 
with books on every branch of English jurispru- 
dence, that some hesitation maybe for a moment 
felt in making a selection for primary notice. How 
vast has been the increase of books on the study 
and practice of the law since the days of Lord 
Coke, the following extract from the Preface to the 
third part of his lordship's Reports may be suf- 
ficient to show : " Right profitable are the ancient 
books of the common law yet extant, as Glanville, 
Bracton, Britton, Fleta, Ingham (Hengham), and 
Novae Narrationes ; and those also of later times, 
as the Old Tenures, Old Natura Brevium, Little- 
ton, Doctor and Student, Perkins, Fitzherbert's 
Natura Brevium and Staunford." After mention- 
ing with commendation the Abridgments of Fitz- 
herbert and Sir Robert Brooke, as also that of 
Statham, the Book of Assises, and the "great 
Book of Entries," and the " exquisite and elaborate 
Commentaries of Master Plowden, the summary 
and fruitful observations of Sir James Dyer, and 
his own simple labours," the Lord Chief Justice 
continues : " then have you ffteen books or trea- 



150 Lincoln's Inn. 

tises, and as many volumes of the Reports, besides 
the Abridgments of the Common Law ; for I speak 
not of the Statutes and Acts of Parliament, where- 
of there be divers great volumes." 

In addition to the fifteen treatises mentioned by 
Lord Coke, the Library contains about 1200 
volumes of Treatises on the Law ; about as many 
volumes of Reports ; of Abridgments of the Law 
about fifty volumes ; and the Statute Law is 
extended to forty-seven volumes in quarto, con- 
tinued since the year 1869 in octavo. 

Law books were among the earliest works that 
issued from the press in England on the invention 
of the art of printing. It does not appear, however, 
that any of these were given to the public by the 
Father of the English press, with the exception of 
the Statutes of Henry VII. printed by William 
Caxton shortly before his decease. By Lettou 
and Machlinia were printed Littleton's Tenures, 
about the year 1481, the " Vieux Abridgement des 
Statuts '* and some of the Year Books. By Wynkyn 
de Worde were printed Lyndewode's Provinciale, 
Carta Feodi Simplicis, and a few other law books ; 
by Pynson, Littleton's Tenures, Liber Assisarum, 
Liber Intrationum, some of the Year Books, &c. 
Statham's Abridgment was printed either by or 
for Pynson. By John Rastell were printed Little- 
ton's Tenures, Tables to Fitzherbert's Abridgment* 



The Library. 151 

Abridgment of the Statutes, &c. ; by Redman, the 
first edition of Britton, and many other treatises ; 
by Berthelet, some of the Year Books, Littleton, 
Natura Brevium, the Statutes, &c. Richard 
Tottel, who enjoyed a special licence for the print- 
ing of law books, printed the first edition of Bracton, 
and most of those which had appeared previously 
were by him again given to the public. The 
first edition of Fitzherbert's Abridgment has been 
attributed both to Wynkyn de Worde, and to 
Pynson. 

The earliest of the ancient writers mentioned by 
Lord Coke in the passage just cited is Glanviile, 
and [it may be convenient to notice these works 
nearly in the order in which they are there enu- 
merated ; with the addition of Home's Mirror of 
Justices, Fortescue, and Lambard. 

Glanville. Tractatus de Legibus et Consue- 
tudinibus Regni Angliae, tempore regis Henrici 
secundi compositus, Justiciae gubernacula tenente 
illustri viro Ranulpho de Clan villa. Juris Regni 
et antiquarum Consuetudinum eo tempore peritis- 
simo. 

It is supposed that this summary or digest of 
the laws of England was drawn up by the command 
of king Henry IL, in order to perpetuate the im- 
provements he had made in the Norman laws, and 
to render the practice of the law more uniform 



152 Lincoln's Inn. 

throughout the kingdom ; but notwithstanding its 
general title, the treatise is confined to such mat- 
ters as were the objects of jurisdiction in the king's 
court. The study of this writer is necessary to 
those who would obtain a critical knowledge of the 
state of the English constitution in the first century 
after the conquest, before the modifications conse- 
quent upon the charter of King John.* 

There has been much controversy concerning 
the authorship of this work. It has been generally 
attributed to Ranulph de Glanville, who was Chief 
Justice in the reign of Henry II. This eminent 
person was also distinguished in a military capacity, 
having been the commander who took the King of 
Scots prisoner at the battle of Alnwick. After the 
death of King Henry, he fought under the banner 
of the Cross in the Holy Land, and died at the 
siege of Acre in 1190. By some writers the work 
has been ascribed to a justice itinerant in the same 
reign ; and by others it has been thought that the 
name of Glanville was only prefixed to it because 
he presided over the law at this period. A full 
account of Glanville and of the controversy may be 
read in the Preface to Mr. Beames's translation, 
published in 1812, 8vo. The work was not printed 

, ■ 

* Reeves's History of the English Law ; and Penny Cy- 
clopaedia. 



The Library. 153 

till 1554, when it was given to the public at the 
suggestion of Sir William Staunford. It was 
printed again in 1557, 1604, 1673, 1780, in i2mo. 
There is a MS. copy of the 14th century, on 
vellum, with illuminated capitals, in Lincoln's Inn 
Library, presented by William Selwyn, Esq., in 

1795- 
Bracton. Henrici de Bracton de Legibus et 

Consuetudinibus Angliae Libri quinque, in varios 
tractatus distincti. Of Bracton's treatise, termed 
by Mr. Reeves the great ornament of the reign of 
Henry III., it is said that while Glanville's work is 
little more than a sketch, confined to the proceed- 
ings in the king's court, Bracton's is a finished and 
systematic performance, giving a complete view of 
the law, in all its titles, as it stood at the time it 
was written. The style is infinitely superior to that 
of Glanville, and much beyond the generality of 
writers of that age. " For comprehensiveness, for 
lucid arrangement, for logical precision,'' observes 
Lord Campbell,* " this author was unrivalled 
during many ages ; and it is curious that in the 
most disturbed period of this turbulent reign, there 
was written and given to the world the best treatise 
upon law of which England could boast till the 
publication of Blackstone's Commentaries, in the 

* Lives of the Chancellors. 



154 Lincoln's Inn. 

middle of the eighteenth century." In the opinion 
of many eminent modern jurists the treatises of 
Glanville and Bracton, as well as those of Britton, 
Fleta, and the Mirror of Justices, have borrowed 
largely from the Roman law. 

The author is stated to have been a Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas, and Chief Justice of Eng- 
land, but the authorship, like that of Glanville, has 
been much questioned. It is thought probable that 
the treatise was composed by Henry de Bracton, 
Doctor of Civil Law, who delivered lectures in the 
University of Oxford, and sat as justice itinerant 
in the reign of Henry III. The author has gone 
by the names of Brycton, Britton, Briton, Breton, 
and Brets ; and it has been doubted whether all 
these names are not imaginary. The estimation in 
which the work was held is manifested by the nu- 
merous copies made before the invention of print- 
ing. Only two editions, however, have been 
printed ; one in 1 569, folio, and the other in 1640, 
4to. There are three MS. copies on vellum in the 
Library of Lincoln's Inn, one of th^ time of Edward 
I.,* one of the latter part of the fourteenth century, 
given byRanulph Cholmeley, and another presented 
by Arthur Hobhouse, Esq., Q.C., in 1866. This is 
also of the fourteenth century, and had belonged to 

* This manuscript belonged, in the reign of Edward I. 



The Library. 155 

Mr. Le Neve, according to an inscription on the 
vellum fly-leaf, and subsequently to Mr. P. C. Webb, 
having been sold by auction with his books in 177 1. 
It is stated in Latin on the last leaf, that the manu- 
script differs in certain passages from the edition 
of Bracton printed in 1569. 

Britton. This is a French treatise on the 
law supposed to have been compiled under the 
direction of king Edward I. Its singular form 
seems to countenance such a supposition ; for the 
contents of the whole book are put into the king's 
mouth, atid the law so delivered has the appearance 
of being promulgated by the immediate voice of 
the sovereign.* This treatise, which set the 
example, followed for nearly four centuries, of 
writing law-books in French, engages the curiosity 
of the modem reader in a particular manner. In 
the writings of Bracton and Fleta, says Mr. Reeves, 

to Sir Alan de Thornton, of whose transactions there are 
some curious memoranda on the fly-leaves, and especially 
in relation to swans. He appears to have resided in Lin- 
colnshire, and was probably a relation of Gilbert de Thorn- 
ton, who was Chief Justice of the King's Bench in the 
reign of Edward L The motto on the first page, jrcpi 
vavTOi njv *Fj\€v0€piaVf seems to mark it as having once 
belonged to Selden. Hunter's Catalogue of MSS. in 
Lincoln's Inn Library. The Greek motto, signifying 
" Liberty above all things," was usually inscribed in 
Selden's books. 
* Reeves's History of the English Law. 



156 Lincoln's Inn. 

everything is seen as it were through a cloud, 
disguised in the terms and phraseology of the 
Latin tongue ; whereas Britton addresses you in 
the technical, proper style of the law. The work is 
attributed, among other authors, to John Le Breton, 
Bishop of Hereford, who died in 3 Edward L ; but 
this opinion cannot be correct, as the statutes of 
the thirteenth year of that reign are quoted in the 
treatise. By some writers it is supposed that the 
treatise received the title of *Britton as being one of 
the names assigned to Bracton himself. 

There are numerous MSS. of this work, as well 
as of Bracton. The first edition was printed by 
Robert Redman, in 1540, and the next by Edmund 
Wingate, in 1640, 8vo. It was in contemplation by 
the late Record Commission to prepare an edition 
from a collation of the existing MSS., and a speci- 
men of the intended work may be seen in Mr. C. P. 
Cooper's work on the Public Records. In 1762, a 
translation as far as the 25 th chapter was published 
by Mr. Robert Kelhara, but the work did not 
receive sufficient encouragement. Mr. Kelham 
translated the remaining portion, and the MS. 
remained in his hands till 1807, when being at that 
time senior member of Lincoln's Inn, and eighty- 
nine years of age, he presented it to the Library. 
A copy of Wingate's edition, full of his manuscript 
notes,' with some account of the MS. copies o^ 



The Library. 157 

Britton in the British Museum, was also presented 
by Mr. Kelham.* In 1865, the French text, with an 
English translation, introduction, and notes, by 
Mr. F. M. Nichols, was printed at Oxford, in two 
volumes 8vo. 

Fleta ; seu Commentarius Juris Anglicani, sub 
Edwardo I., ab anonymo conscriptus ; editus, cum 
dissertatione historica ad eundem, per Jo. Selde- 
num. This is a commentary in Latin on the entire 
body of the English law, as it stood at the time 
when the author wrote, which is supposed to have 
been about 13 Edward L The author is unknown, 
and gives as a reason for the title of his book that 
it was written during his confinement in the Fleet 
Prison. His design seems to have been to give 
a concise account of the law, with such alterations 
as had been made since the time of Bracton, to 
whose treatise his work thus serves as an appendix 
and often as a commentary. The President 
Henault refers to Fleta as an historical authority. 
The work was first published by Selden in 1647, 
4to., from a MS. in the Cottonian Library, together 
with a treatise in French entitled from its initial 
words " Fet assavoir " (a collection of notes concern- 

■ * Mr. Kelham also published a translation of Selden's 
Dissertation on Fleta, 1771, 8vo. ; a Dictionary of the 
Norman or old French language, 1779, 8vo ; and Domes- 
day Book illustrated, 1788, 8vo. 



158 Lincoln's Inn. 

ing proceedings in actions), and a learned disserta- 
tion by Selden himself. Another edition was 
published in 1685, 4to., but no others have been 
printed in England. There is a MS. copy of the 
17th century, in Lincoln's Inn Library, supposed 
to be a transcript of a MS. of the reign of Edward 
11. This was the gift of John Glover, Esq. 

The treatises of Glanville, Britton, Fleta, and the 
Mirror, as well as the Anglo-Saxon Laws, Spelman's 
Codex Legum, and Sir John Skene's collection of 
the Laws of Scotland, with a preliminary Disserta- 
tion and Notes, were 'published at Rouen, in 1776, 
four vols. 4to., by M. Houard, *'Avocat" in the 
parliament of Normandy. 

Of the four authors just described the compara- 
tive merit appears very different in the eyes of a 
modem reader. The learning and copiousness of 
Bracton place him very high above the rest ; but 
while due praise is given to the father of legal 
learning, what Bracton as well as posterity owe to 
others must not be forgotten. Britton delivered 
some of this writer's matter in the proper language 
of the law, and Fleta illustrated some of his obscu- 
rities; while Glanville, who led the way, is still 
entitled to the veneration due to those who first 
open the paths to science.* 

* Reeves. 



The Library. 159 

Hengham. Radulphi de Hengham, Edwardi 
regis Primi Capital is olim Justitiarii, Summae, 
Magna Hengham et Parva vulgo nuncupatae. This 
is a collection of notes treating of the ancient forms 
of pleading in essoigns and defaults. Sir Ralph de 
Hengham was Chief Justice in the reign of Edward 
I. The work had been translated into English, but 
this being in the language of the time of Edward H. 
or Edward III., it was thought advisable to print it 
in the original Latin, which was done by Selden, 
who published it with the treatise of Fortescue 
on the Laws in 16 16, adding some few notes of his 
own in English. There are in Lincoln's Inn 
Library several MSS. of Hengham of the 14th 
century. 

Horne's Mirror of Justices. This book, 
which treats of all branches of the law, whether 
civil or criminal, when read with certain reserva- 
tions, is a curious, interesting, and in some degree 
authentic tract upon our old law.* There is much 
contrariety of opinion as to its antiquity and 
authorship. From internal evidence it appears 
that it was written after Fleta and Britton, and it is 
accordingly ascribed to the reign of Edward II. 
" The most extraordinary of our ancient law books 
is the Mirror of Justices, hitherto most inaccurately 

♦ Reeves, 



i6o Lincoln's Inn. 

published. Only one ancient manuscript of this 
work is known to exist, which is in the Library of 
C. C C Cambridge." * There are two transcripts 
in the Library of Lincoln's Inn, one of the reign of 
James I. The work was first printed in 1642, 
i2mo., in French, and an English translation by 
W. Hughes, in 1646 and 1649, i2mo., and in 
1768, 8vo. Andrew Home, the reputed author, a 
native of Gloucester, and Chamberlain of the City 
of London in the reign of Edward 11. compiled a 
book, still preserved in Guildhall, which has not 
been printed. It is entitled '* Liber Horn," and 
contains charters, customs and statutes relating to 
the city.t Mr. Daines Harrington, in his Observa- 
tions on the Statutes, has pointed out the remark- 
able coincidence of several European states in 
adopting the title of " Mirror " in their early law 
books. 

Thornton. A summary or abridgment of 
Bracton was written by Gilbert de Thornton, Chief 
Justice of the King's Bench in the reign of Edward 
I. The work is cited by Selden in his Dissertation 

* Cooper on the Public Records. 

t Liber Horn appears on the title-page of the second 
volume of the " Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis," pub- 
lished by the Master of the Rolls in i860, but it does not 
appear that any further steps have been taken for its 
publication. 



The Library. i6i 

on Fleta, from a MS. in his possession, but has not 
been printed. 

NoViB Narrationes. This work, written in 
the reign of Edward III., contains the forms of 
counts, declarations, pleas, &c. It was first printed 
in French by Pynson, in folio, without date, and 
afterwards by Rastell, Redman, and Tottell. The 
first edition, given by Ranulph Cholmeley, is in 
the Library, and that of Tottell, 1561, i2mo., with 
'^Articuli ad Novas Narrationes," and the "Diver- 
site des Courtes." 

Old Tenures. This work, so called by way of 
distinction from Littleton's Tenures, was written 
in the reign of Edward III., and gives an account 
of the various tenures of land, the nature of estates, 
and some other incidents to landed property. It is 
a very brief treatise, but has the merit of having led 
the way to Littleton. It was first printed in French 
by Pynson, in folio, without date, and again by him, 
in 1625, i6mo. Both these editions are in the 
Library. Several other editions have been printed. 

Old Natura Brevium. This work, called 
old, like the former, as a distinttion from Fitzher- 
bert's Natura Brevium, was written about the same 
period as the preceding ; and contains the writs 
most in use at that time, annexing to each a short 
comment respecting their nature, application, &c. 
It became a model to Fitzherbert, in writing his 



i62 Lincoln's Inn. 

valuable treatise on the same subject. It was first 
printed in French by Pynson, in folio, without date, 
and again by him, in 1525, i6mO. Both these are 
in the Library. Upwards of twenty editions, either 
in French or English, have been printed. The last 
was in 1584, i2mo., in French. 

Littleton's Tenures. This work combines 
the qualities of clearness, plainness, and brevity, in 
a degree that is not only extraordinary for the rude 
age in which its author wrote, but renders him 
superior, as to purity of style, to any writer on Eng- 
lish law who has succeeded him. Notwithstanding 
the alterations of the law since his time, from the 
absolute necessity of a knowledge of what was the 
state of the law with respect to property in land, in 
order to understand thoroughly what it now is, 
Littleton is still indispensable to the student of 
English law.* The author, Thomas Littleton, 
was a Judge of Common Pleas, in the reign of 
Edward IV. 

The first edition of Littleton's Tenures is sup- 
posed to be that which was printed by Lettou and 
Machlinia, in folio, without date, but probably 
about 1 48 1. Another edition was printed by 
IVJachlinia alone, also without date. Neither of 
these editions are in Lincoln's Inn Library; that of 
Pynson, with the portrait of Henry VII. on his 

♦ Penny Cyclopaedia. 



The Library. 163 

throne, in folio, without date, is there, and also 
that of 1525, by Pynson, i6mo. The folio edition, 
as well as that of the Old Tenures and Natura 
Brevium, was given by Ranulph Cholmeley ; the 
latter, by Joshua Williams, Esq. There is also a 
MS. of the 15th century. There is scarcely any 
law-writer whose work has gone through so many 
editions, upwards of thirty having been printed in 
French, and nearly as many in the English lan- 
guage. The last was by T. E. Tomlins, Esq., in 
1 841, 8vo., from the text of the earliest edition by 
Lettou and Machlinia, and the translation from 
that used by Sir Edward Coke. The text of Little- 
ton, with a French translation or paraphrase, notes, 
glossary, and ' Pieces Justificatives,' was published 
at Rouen in 1776, two vols. 4to., by.M. Houard. 

The learned and laborious Commentary of Lord 
Coke upon Littleton will be admired, says Fuller, 
*' by judicious posterity, while Fame has a trumpet 
left her and any breath to blow therein." The 
chief merit of this inestimable book is the light 
which it throws upon the system of our ancient 
law. The grounds and reasons of that system are 
there expounded with the most profound learning 
and ingenuity, so that the student may resort to it 
as to an inexhaustible spring of legal knowledge. 
With all its want of method, and its occasional ob- 
scurity, it stands alone in his library, the only Insti- 



i64 Lincoln's Inn. 

tute or general Text-book of the old law.* " There 
is not," says Mr Butler, "in the whole of the 
golden book, a single line which the student will 
not in his professional life find, on more than one 
occasion, eminently useful." 

This commentary was first printed in 1628, in 
folip ; again in 1629, and very frequently since. 
Nineteen editions have been published ; the most 
valuable are those containing the notes of Mr Har- 
grave and Mr Butler, including those of Sir Mat- 
thew Hale and Lord Chancellor Nottingham, first 
printed in 1794, three vols. 8vo. The nineteenth 
edition, printed in 1832, two vols. 8vo., is furnished 
with an elaborate Index, by Mr T. Canning, to the 
notes of Hargrave and Butler, but is without the 
Norman-French text of Littleton.t 

FORTESCUE de Laudibus Legum Angliae. This 
work — ^the compilation of a lawyer distinguished 
both by his professional learning and classical 
attainments — ^is said to have been written while 

* Notes on North's Study of the Laws. 

+ Coke's Commentary upon Littleton is also entitled, 
the First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England ; 
the Second Part contains the Exposition of many ancient 
and other Statutes ; the Third treats of High Treason and 
other Pleas of the Crown ; and the Fourth Part treats of the 
Jurisdiction of Courts. They have been several times 
printed between 1642 and 1797, the second, third, and fourth 
parts having been printed in four vols. 8vo., to range with 
Hargrave and Butler's edition of the first Institute. 



The Library. 165 

the author, who had been Chief Justice of the King's 
Bench in the reign of Henry VI., was in exile with 
the Prince of Wales, and others of the Lancastrian 
party in France. Sir John was then made Chancel- 
lor, and in that character supposes himself holding 
a conversation with the young prince on the nature 
and excellence of the laws of England compared 
with the civil law and the laws of other countries. 

The treatise was first printed in Latin by Edward 
"Whitchurch, early in liie reign of Henry VIII., 
without date, in i6mo. ; it was again printed, with 
an English translation by Robert Mulcaster, in 1567, 
and several times reprinted ; in 161 6 it was printed 
with Selden's notes, and the addition of the treatise 
of Hengham; in 1737, 1741, and in 1775 it was 
printed with an English translation, and an his- 
torical preface by F. Gregor, Esq. ; and in 1825, 
8vo., with notes by A. Amos, Esq.* 

Marrow's Justice of the Peace. This author, 
quoted with commendation by later writers, as Fitz- 
herbert and Lambard, was a lawyer in the reign of 
Henry VII. His work has not been printed. 

Doctor and Student ; or Dialogues between 

* In 1869, a vety beautiful edition of the first complete collec- 
tion of the works of Sir J. Fortescue was printed for private 
distribution by his descendant Thomas (Fortescue), Lord 
Clermont, with a history of the family of Fortescue, in two 
vols. 4to. A copy of this work was presented by his lordship 
to the library of Lincoln's Inn. 



1 66 Lincoln's Inn. 

a Doctor of Divinity and a Student in the Laws of 
England, concerning the Grounds of those Laws. 
Christopher Saint Germain, the author of this 
work, a native of Warwickshire, was a member of 
the Inner Temple, and died in 1539, in the 80th 
year of his age. Of this author Fuller says : ''Reader, 
wipe thine eyes, and let mine smart if thou readest 
not what richly deserves thine observation ; seeing 
he was a person remarkable for his gentility, piety, 
chastity, charity, ability, industry, and vivacity." 
The work was cited as authority by the Judges 
in the trial of Hampden. It was first printed in 
Latin by John Rastell, in 1523, and has gone 
through above twenty editions ; the last was by 
W. Muchall, in English, printed in 181 5. 

Perkins. A profitable booke of Master John 
Perkins, Fellow of the Inner Temple, treating of 
the Lawes of England. This book, which treats of 
the various branches of conveyancing, is, perhaps, 
says Mr. Reeves, "as valuable a performance as any 
of this reign" (Hen. VIII.). It was first printed 
in 1528 in French, and has been frequently re- 
printed both in French and English. The last 
edition was by R. J. Greening, in 1827, i2mo. 

FiTZHERBERT. The new .Natura Brevium, by 
Sir Anthony Fitzherbert. This work, on the na- 
ture of writs, is of the greatest authority. It was 
first printed in French, in 1534, 8vo., and has 



The Library. 167 

been frequently reprinted. The last edition was in 
1794, two vols. 8vo., in English. The author was a 
Judge of Common Pleas in the reign of Henry VIII. 

Staunford. The Pleas of the Crown, by Sir 
William Staunford, 4to. This is the first work 
which treats the subject of criminal law professedly 
and in detail. It was first printed in 1583, in 
French, and there have been several editions" 
of it. The author was a Judge of Common Pleas 
in the reign of Queen Mary. "In Master Staunford 
there is force and weight, and no common kind of 
style : in matter none hath gone beyond him, in 
method none hath overtaken him." * 

Statham's Abridgment of the Law, folio. In 
French, without title or date. This work, the first 
of the Abridgments of the Law, is a kind of digest, 
containing most of the titles of the Law, arranged 
in alphabetical order, and comprising under each 
head adjudged cases, abridged from the Year-Books 
in a concise manner ; it has served as a model to 
others in later times, but was superseded by the 
Abridgment of Fitzherbert, which came out about 
the same period. The author, Nicholas Statham, 
was Baron of the Exchequer in the reign of Ed- 
ward IV. There is only one edition, which is 
in folio, without date, and is supposed to have been 

* Fulbecke on the Study of the Law. 



i68 Lincoln's Inn. 

printed by W. Tailleur, at Rouen, for Pynson ; at 
the end of the table are the words : " per me, R. 
Pynson," and at the end of the volume is Tailleur's 
device. 

This Abridgment is comprised in 380 pages : the 
Abridgment of Mr Charles Viner, published about 
the middle of the last century, is in twenty-four 
volumes, folio, of which a second edition was pub- 
lished in twenty-four vols. 8vo., 1 791-4, and a sup- 
plement in six vols. 8vo., 1 799-1 806. 

Fitzherbert's Grand Abridgment of the Law. 

This is one of our most ancient and authentic 
legal records, containing a great number of original 
authorities, quoted by different authors, which are 
not extant in the Year-Books, or elsewhere to be 
met with in print. It has also the advantage of being 
a very copious and useful commonplace-book or 
index to the Year-Books. The Library possesses 
a beautiful copy of the first edition of this work, 
printed in 15 16, presented by Ranulph Cholmeley, 
and as there seems to be some uncertainty respect- 
ing the date of the first edition, some bibliographers 
having stated that it was printed in 15 14, it may be 
worth while to give a description of this copy. 

This edition is in three parts, each having a 
frontispiece. Prefixed to the first part is a wood- 
cut of the king on his throne, crowned, holding the 
sceptre and mound, and over this cut are the words : 



f' 



The Library. 169 

Prima pars hujus libri. To the second part is pre- 
fixed a wood-cut of the royal arms, crowned, sup- 
ported by a dragon and greyhound, with a portcullis 
on each side of the arms ; above, two angels, bear- 
ing scrolls with an inscription encircling a rose ; 
and over this cut are the words : Sequitur secunda 
pars. The third part has the same frontispiece as 
the second, and over it the words : — 

Ultima pars hujus libri. 
IF The price of the whole boke (xLf.) which boke con- 
teyneth iii. grete volumes. 

At the end is the following colophon : 

Finis tocius istius operis finit xxi die Decembf. 
A°. dni Millecimo quingentesimo sextodecimo. 

Beneath the colophon is a' cut of the royal arms, 
but of smaller size than the former, and with some 
variations. 

From the evidence of the wood-cuts, the same 
having been used in the " Fructus Temporum " 
printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 15 15, Mr Her- 
bert concludes that the work was either executed 
by that printer, or printed for him in France. It is 
worthy of notice, however, that the same type is 
used by John Rastell in the Tables to this Abridg- 
ment printed by him in the following year, 15 17, 
the smaller letter being used in the Prologue, and 
the larger chiefly in the. Tables. A copy of this 



170 Lincoln's Inn. 

work was also presented to the Library by R. Cholme- 
ley. In a notice of an edition of the Abridgment 
supposed to have been printed by Pynson in 15 14, 
Mr. Herbert says there is a copy in Lincoln's Inn 
Library. This is erroneous ; for it is the edition 
of 1 5 16, as just described, which is in that Library ; 
nor can an edition of 15 14 be traced in either of 
the Libraries of the Inns of Court, the Bodleian 
Library, or the British Museum. There is a copy 
at Holkham of the edition of 15 16. 

The copy in Lincoln's Inn is bound in three 
volumes, in a modern binding. On the inside of 
the covers of the first and second parts is pasted a 
paper label with the inscription of the donor : Ex 
dono Ranulphi de Cholmeley, &c. ; and on one of 
the fly-leaves of the second part is the following 
quaint inscription : ** Of your charity pray for the 
soul of Robert Crawley, sometime donor of this 
book, which is now worm's meat, as another day 
shall you be that now art full lustye, that remember, 
good christian brother. Farewell in the Lord. 
1534." At the end of the third part, also on one of 
the fly-leaves, is a Latin inscription in the same 
handwriting, nearly to the same effect. 

The Abridgment was again printed by R. Tottell 
in 1565, two vols, folio ; and with additional gene- 
ral Table by J. Rastell, in 1577, 4to. 

Brooke's Grand Abridgment of the Law. In 



The Library. 171 

this work, which is disposed under more titles than 
that of Fitzherbert, many readings are abridged 
which are not now extant, except in a work entitled 
Brooke's New Cases. Of this author, in comparison 
with Fitzherbert, Fulbecke says, **In the facilitie 
and compendious forme of abridging cases hee 
carrieth away the garland." Sir Robert Brooke 
was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the 
reign of Philip and Mary. The first edition was 
printed in 1568, 4to. ; it was reprinted in 1570, and 
in 1576; in 1573 it was printed in two vols, folio, 
by R. Tottell, and again in 1586. 

Rollers Abridgment of Cases and Resolutions 
in the Law. Mr. Hargrave speaks of this work as 
excellent in its kind, and in point of method, 
succinctness, legal precision, and many other 
respects, fit to be proposed as an example for other 
abridgments of the law. There is a Preface addressed 
to young students in the law of England, by Sir 
Matthew Hale. Henry RoUe was Chief Justice of 
the Upper Bench from 1648 to 1655. The work was 
printed in 1668, in two volumes folio, in French. 

Book of Assises. Le Liver des Assises et 
Plees del Corone, moves et dependauntz devaunt 
les Justices, en temps le Roy Edwarde le tierce. 

This book, containing proceedings upon writs of 
assize of novel disseisin in the reign of Henry III., 
is often quoted and referred to by ancient writers. 



172 Lincoln's Inn. 

and examples are cited from it by Littleton. It 
contains a Prologue by John Rastell in praise of 
the laws. It was first printed in 1 580, by R. Tottell ; 
and forms the fifth volume of the edition of the 
Year-Books published in 1679. 

Book of Entries. The earliest work under 
this title is the Liber Intrationum printed by Pynson 
in 15 10, and again by Henry Smythe in 1546, folio. 
The latter edition is in the Library. In 1566 a 
Collection of Entries, Declarations, Bars, Replica- 
tions, Rejoinders, &c., by William Rastell, in Latin, 
was printed by Tottell, and again in 1574, folio. 
The edition printed by J. Yetsweirt, 1596, is in the 
Library. Afterwards was published in 16 14, folio, 
a Book of Entries, by Sir Edward Coke. This is 
in the Library. In the preface Sir E. Coke says, 
that the former Book of Entries being published at 
that time when the author was beyond the seas, 
could not so exactly and perfectly be done as if he 
had been at the fountain's head itself; and that 
none of the precedents herein have been by any 
published heretofore. 

Registrum Omnium Brevium, tam Origina- 
lium quam Judicialium. This work, containing 
writs adapted to the purpose ^of redress in every 
possible case of injury to the person or property, is 
said by Sir Edward Coke to be the most ancient 
book in the English Law, an assertion for the truth 



The Library. 173 

of which there seems to be some probability, on a 
comparison with the writs contained in Glanville 
and the earliest law-writers. " It is not more cer- 
tain than extraordinary, that the forms of writs 
were very early settled, in their substance and lan- 
guage, nearly in the manner in which they were 
drawn ever after." * The book was first .printed by 
William Rastell in 153 1, folio ; it was reprinted in 
I553> I595> 1634, and the last edition in 1687, 
folio. 

Lambard. This author, whose Archaionomia 
has been already mentioned,t is also commended by 
Sir E. Coke. His Eirenarcha, or Office of Justices 
of the Peace, first printed in 1581, and reprinted 
eleven times, the last in 161 9, is recommended to 
students by Sir W. Blackstone. His Duty of 
Constables, printed in 1582, was also reprinted six 
times. He was likewise author of Archeion ; or a 
Discourse upon the High Courts of Justice in Eng- 
land, twice printed in the same year, 1635, 8vo. 

" Mr. Lambarde's paines, learning, and law ap- 
peare by his bookes, which are conducted by so 
curious methode, and beautified by such flowers of 
learning, that he may wel be sorted amongst those 
to whom the law is most beholden.'* J 

The preceding works which, with some volumes 

* Reeves. f Page 8, ante. J Fulbecke. 



174 Lincoln's Inn. 

of Law Reports to be presently noticed, constituted 
the library of the English lawyer in the days of Sir 
Edward Coke, still form the study of those who 
wish to become acquainted with the history of 
English law. Speaking of the changes undergone 
by the law between the reigns of Henry VI L and 
Charles IL, Mr. C. Butler remarks : " There is no 
doubt but during the above period, a material 
alteration was effected in the jurisprudence of this 
country, but this alteration has been effected not so 
much by superseding, as by giving a new direction 
to the principles of the old law, and applying them 
to new subjects. Hence a knowledge of ancient 
legal learning is absolutely necessary to a modern 
lawyer." * 

In the same division of the Library with these 
ancient ' authors are ranged numerous volumes 
containing the labours of successive generations 
of lawyers from the reign of James I. to the pre- 
sent day, an enumeration of whom, with even the 
slightest indication of their various merits, would 
require a volume of much more ample dimensions 
than the present. 

This brief notice of some of the principal legal 
writers may be concluded with the mention of the 
Commentaries of Sir William Blackstone, the value 

• Preface to 13th edition of Coke upon Littleton. 



The Library, 175 

of which is also indicated by the numerous editions 
that have been given to the public. The first 
edition was published at Oxford in 1765-9, four 
vols. 4to., and the twenty-first, the last edition which 
contains the text of Blackstone unaltered, in 1844, 
four vols. 8vo., by Mr. J. F. Hargrave, Mr. G. 
Sweet, Mr. R. Couch, and Mr. W. N. Welsby. The 
twenty-third edition, ' incorporating the alterations 
down to the present time,' by James Stewart, was 
printed in 1854 ; and three editions, adapted to the 
present state of the law, have been published by 
Robert Malcolm Kerr, LL.D. ; the first in 1857, the 
last in 1 861. Besides these, there are six editions of 
Mr. Serjeant Stephen's Commentaries partly founded 
on Blackstone, four vols. 8vo., the first printed in 
1842-5, the sixth in 1868. 

Notwithstanding its high reputation and the 
repeated eulogiums bestowed upon it by eminent 
jurists, the changes that of late years have taken 
place in the law have diminished the value of this 
celebrated work. " The cannonade which has for 
the last twenty years been playing on the Com- 
mentaries, exposing as they do so wide a front, has 
rendered them, as they were left by their author, a 
mere wreck. Edition after edition has been called 
for, and given by editors more or less eminent. 
But in spite of all the alterations, much still re- 
mains, not only unaltered, but unequalled for cor- 



1/6 Lincoln's Inn. 

rectness and beautiful statement." * " Blackstone's 
Commentaries/' says Sir William Jones, " are the 
most correct and beautiful outline that ever was 
exhibited- of any human science, but they alone will 
no more form a lawyer than a general map of the 
world will make a geographer." To Sir W. Black- 
stone belongs the merit of having been the first to 
array in attractive garb the harsher features of legal 
science, and in criticising its merits, it must be 
borne in mind that "its principal object is to 
present an orderly and systematic view of a 
science, the outlines of which are not to be found 
as briefly, yet completely delineated, in any other 
work." t 

In Colonel Fremont's account of his disastrous 
exploring expedition across the Rocky Mountains, 
there is an interesting note relative to his perusal 
of these volumes. He states that while encamped 
on the side of the wintry mountain — on a spot 
never before traversed by man — 12,000 feet above 
the level of the sea — ^with the thermometer at 
zero, and the country buried in ^now — ^the vo- 
lumes of Blackstone's Commentaries, which he 
had taken from the library of his wife's father, 
formed his Christmas amusements. He read them 



* Law Review. 

t Hoffman's Course of Legal Study. 



The Library. 177 

to pass the time and kill the consciousness of his 
situation. You ^ may well suppose, adds the 
Colonel, that my first law lessons will be well 
remembered.* 

The Library contains a collection of the princi- 
pal writers on the Law of Scotland, including the 
works of Sir George Mackenzie, Lord Stair, Mac- 
douall (Lord Bankton), Erskine, &c. ; with the 
Decisions of the Court of Session from the earliest 
period, M orison's Dictionary, and all the modern 
Reports. There are also many works relating, to 
the practice of the law in Ireland, besides the col- 
lection of Irish Statutes, and the Reports of the 
Courts of Law in that kingdom. 

The works of some of the most eminent of the 
American jurists are likewise to be found in the 
Library, including those of the late Judge Story, 
some of them presented by himself ; the Treatise on 
I Evidence of Professor Greenleaf, presented by the 

j author ; the Commentaries of Mr. Chancellor Kent ; 

' the treatises of Angell on Tide Waters, &c., those of 

I Bishop on Marriage and Divorce, those of Milliard 

on the Law of Contracts and of Torts, those of 
Parsons on Shipping, of- Redfield on the Law of 
Wills, of Duer on Marine Insurance, and of Wash- 
burn on the American Law of Real Property, &c. 



; 



Athenasum. 

M 



178 Lincoln's Inn. 

Besides these, there is a large collection of the 
American Reports. 



ENGLISH LAW. 

2. REPORTS. 

The next division of the Library is that wherein 
are contained the volumes of the Reports of Argu- 
ments and Decisions in Courts of Justice. " The 
practice of collecting judicial decisions/' says M. 
Dupin, " is of great antiquity. Craterus, the fa- 
vourite of Alexander the Great, was the author of 
a work, the loss of which is much regretted by the 
learned; it was a collection of Athenian laws, 
amongst which were the decisions of the Areopagus, 
and the Council of Amphictyons. The Roman 
lawyers often quote the judgments of the Praetors, 
and the ordinances of other magistrates." That 
this practice prevailed at an early period in Eng- 
land is shown by a passage in Chaucer : 

" In termes hadde he cas and domes alle 
That from the time of King WilL weren falle." 

" English Jurisprudence has not any other sure 
foundation, nor consequently, the lives and proper- 
ties of the subject any sure hold, but in the maxims, 
rules, principles, and juridical traditionary line of 
decisions, contained in the notes taken from time 



The Library. 179 

to time, and published mostly under the sanction 
of the Judges, called Reports."* These reports 
are histories of cases with a short summary of the 
proceedings, which are preserved at large in the 
records of the courts of justice, the arguments on 
both sides, and the reasons the court gave for its 
judgment, noted down by persons present at the 
determination. The reports are extant in a regular 
series from the reign of Edward II. inclusive; and 
from his time to that of Henry VIII. they were 
taken by the prothonotaries or chief scribes of the 
court, at the expense of the crown, and published 
annually, whence they are known under the deno- 
mination of the Year-Books.t As the Library of 
Lincoln's Inn contains copies of all the Reports 
that have been published, besides a large collection 
of Manuscript Cases, including some of the earliest 
Year-Books, a summary notice of them may be 
here given. 

The Year-Books were first printed, and for the 
most part in separate Years and Terms, by Mach- 
linia, Pynson, &c. The whole series, with the ex- 
ception of the reign of Edward II., was reprinted 
about 1600 ; and this edition was so much in re- 
quest that copies were sold for a very high price 
until the publication of another in 1679, including 

* Burke, + Blackstone. 



.t8o Lincoln's Inn. 

the reign of Edward II. by Serjeant Maynard, in 
eleven volumes, folio. There are in the Library 
twenty-five volumes of the original editions of the 
Year*Books printed by Pynson, Redman, Berthelet, 
Tottell, &c. ; but it will be proper to notice first a 
Manuscript on vellum acquired some years ago by 
the Society, containing Reports of the reign of 
Edward I.* On the inside of the cover is the fol- 
lowing autograph note of Mr. Samuel Heywood, the 
former possessor of the volume : — 

This book, according to the certificate on the first leaf, 
contains Reports of Cases in all the years of Edward I., 
and it appears from the Report of the Committee for 
examining Records appointed by the House of Commons 
in 1800, that there is no copy of these Reports extant in 
any of the Public Libraries. At the end is a very ancient 
copy of part of Britton, signed also by Wm. Fleetwood, 
^ who was Recorder of the City of London in the reign of 
Elizabeth, to whom this volume in its present state pro- 
bably belonged formerly, as well as my MS. copy of Re- 
ports in the reign of Edward III. S. H. 

The following is the certificate referred to in the 

foregoing note : — Hie liber Francisci Tate de Medio 

Templo continet in se omnes annossiveRepertorium 

Regis Edwardi Primi. Teste W. Fletewoode. At 

the end of the volume also is the signature : Wil- 

* There are also in the Library some other volumes in MS. 
containing Reports of the 30, 31, 32, and 33 years of 
Edward I. ; as well as some others containing Reports of the 
reign of Edward II. 



The Library. i8i 

liam Fletewoode. The Manuscript, a small folio, 
contains 288 pages, exclusive of the portion of 
Britton bound with it.* 

Of the early printed volumes twelve, in the ori- 
ginal oak binding, were presented by Ranulph 
(or Randall) Cholmeley, and some of these had 
belonged to William Rastell, as appears by the fol- 
lowing inscription on the inside of one of the 

covers : — 

Sayd that I Wm Rastell the xvi day of March in the 
XXX yere of Kyng Henry the viii have sold to Randall 
Cholmeley my fyve f gret boke of yeres whereof this is 

* The statement that this volume contains Reports of Cases 
in all the years of Edward I. has been found to be erro- 
neouSy by the careful examination the Manuscript has under- 
gone at the hands of Mr. J. Horwood, by whom some 
Reports of this period have been edited for the series of his- 
torical publications of the Master of the RoUs. It appears 
that the cases are chiefly of the 31st and 32d years of Eklward 
I., with a few reports of some other years. Mr. Horwood 
states that the handwriting is of the reign of Edward H., 
and is of a beauty far surpassing that of any Manuscript 
Year-Book which has fallen under his notice. The Reports 
from the Year- Books which Mr. Horwood has edited con- 
sist of three volumes ; those of the 30 and 31 Edward I., 
printed in 1863 from three MSS., two in the Library of Lin- 
coln's Inn, the third in the British Museum ; those of 32 and 
33 Edward I., printed in 1864 from the MSS. in Lincoln's 
Inn Library ; and those of 20 and 21 Edward I., in 1866, 
from a MS. in Cambridge University Library. 

t There are only four volumes with Rastell's name, which 
is written several times on the leaves, and sometimes in very 
neat Greek characters. 



1 82 Lincoln's Inn. 

one for the some of xxxiiiis yiii<^ whych the same day he 
hath payd me. 

To one of the volumes are prefixed copies of 
Olde Teners, Natura Brevium, Lyttelton, and 
Novae Narrationes, printed by Pynson, without 
date. In another volume at the end of 17 Edward 
III., without printer's name : "The price of thys 
boke is xvi d. unbownde ; " and at the end of 1 8 
Edward III., also without printer's name : " The 
price of thys boke is xii d. unbound." In another 
of the volumes, at the end of 14 Henry VII., printed 
by T. Berthelet in 1529, the following curious evi- 
dence of the zealous desire of the printer to obtain 
the approbation of the public occurs in the colo- 
phon : " Si non adhuc nihilominus spero me olim 
satisfacturum delicatissimo palato. Scio per Jovem 
non omnino displiciturum hunc libellum." At the 
end of the following year, the printer puts forth the 
following laconic charge to the reader : "Hunc 
eme et leg6, et disperiam si non placebit" It ap- 
pears that his meritorious efforts were not unre- 
warded; for two years afterwards, in 1532, the 
colophon bears evidence that he had been appointed 
printer to the king. It is believed that he was the 
first who enjoyed that office by patent. The press 
of Berthelet was distinguished by the value as well 
as the number of the works which issued from it. 
^ Three of the volumes of Year-Books were given 



The Library. ' 183 

to the Society in 1604 by Thomas Antrobus, and 
have his arms emblazoned on the fly-leaves. Three 
of them belonged to Lord Bacon, and have his 
initials on the title-page of the first volume, and 
numerous marginal notes in his hand-writing.* 
r They contain part of the reign of Edward III. and 

y the whole of that of Edward IV. At the end of 

I 10 Edward IV., apparently printed by Rastell or 

Pynson, consisting of forty pages, are the words : 
The price of thys boke is iiii^- unbounde. This 
year, as well as the two years before mentioned 
with prices, appears to be printed with the same 
types as the Fitzherbert's Abridgment of 15 16, and 
the circumstance of the price being printed also on 
that work confirms the opinion that it may have 
issued from the same press. 

* These volumes were purchased in 1845 at the sale of 
the Library of the late Benjamin Heywood Bright, Esq., a 
member of Lincoln's Inn. This gentleman's rich and ex- 
tensive library abounded in works of the highest historical 
and literary interest, and in bibliographical curiosities ; 
and in this collection was a copy of Selden's Titles of 
Honour, presented by the learned author to William Cam- 
den, "the nourice of antiquitie," and a copy of his Treatise 
De Diis Syris, presented to Ben Jonson, which was ren- 
dered still more interesting by the manuscript notes of the 
dramatist. ' ' There is nothing which brings us more im- 
mediately into the presence of the honoured dead than the 
possession of a book which once belonged to them, and 
which exhibits proof that it had been perused, if not 
studied, by them." 



1 84 Lincoln's Inn. 

With respect to the compilation of the Year- 
Books, it has been said, " that almost everything 
relating to them is involved in so much obscurity 
that it is believed even the names of the reporters 
are unknown." * This does not appear to be strictly 
the case, for Selden, in his Dissertation annexed to 
Fleta, speaks of the Law Annals of King Edward 
II. as transcribed from the manuscript of Richard 
de Winchedon, who lived at that time. Again, in 
the Year-Books, at the end of one of the Terms 
(M. T. 21 Edward III. p. 50), is the following 
passage : Icy se finissent les Reportes du Mons' 
Horewode. It is probable also that some manu- 
script reports extant in the time of Sir James Dyer, 
Chief Justice of Common Pleas in the reign of 
Elizabeth, and cited under the names of Tanfield, 
Warberton, &c., were by the Annalists, or com- 
pilers of the Year-Books. t Mr. Plowden, in the 
Preface to his Commentaries, written in the same 
reign, supposes the number of these official 
reporters to have been four, and that they received 
an annual stipend from the crown. 

When the ten volumes of the Year-Books were 
printed by subscription in 1679, they were recom- 
mended by the Judges to all students and professors 



• Douglas' Reports, Preface. 

t Vaillant's Preface to Dyer's Reports. 



i 



The Library. 185 

of the law, as an essential part of their study. 
These books undoubtedly, says Bp. Nicolson, *' give 
us the best history of our judges of both benches ; 
setting forth their opinions, in cases of intricacy, 
and, by consequence, good probable grounds for 
guessing at the learning and accomplishments of 
the men.''* Lord Mansfield said that when he 
I was young, few persons would confess that they had 
not read at least a considerable part of the Year- 
Books ; and, though of late years less attention has 
been paid to them, their importance is acknowledged 
by eminent jurists, and Sir Frederick Pollock has 
adverted to the extent of information derivable from 
those early authorities — the fountain-heads of the 
law — the Year- Books and old Reports. In a letter 
written in 1843 to Matthew Davenport Hill, Esq., 
by the late enlightened and lamented American 
Judge, the Hon. Joseph Story, occurs the following 
passage : *•' Looking to the gradual but certain 
decline of a knowledge of the old Norman Law 
French, I cannot but hope that Parliament may be 
induced to order a translation and publication of 
all the Year-Books (the unpublished as well as the 
published), as well as all the records of the early 

* Serjeant Ma3mard is said by Roger North to have had 
such a relish of the old Year-Books, that he carried one in 
his coach to divert his time in travel, and chose it before 
any comedy. 



1 86 Lincoln's Inn. 

cases decided in Chancery; they would contain 
invaluable materials for an exact history of Com- 
mon Law and of Equity which, I fear, in a* few 

4 

years will be wholly inaccessible to the bulk of our 
profession." * 

Bellewe's Cases Temp. Ric. IL supply the 
chasm in the Year-Books between the fifth part of 
these books (Edward III.) and the reign of Henry 
IV. The volume is termed by Dugdale,t "The 
Year-Book of King Richard the Second's time 
containing Cases adjudged." The Cases were 
selected from the abridgments of Statham, Fitz- 
herbert, and Brooke, by Richard Bellewe, of 
Lincoln's Inn, and printed in 1585, 8vo. Having 
become very rare, the book was admirably reprinted 
in 1869, and published by Messrs Stevens and 
Haynes, who have also reprinted some other 
volumes of the early reports. 

The labours of the official reporters employed in 
the compilation of the Year-Books were discon- 
tinued after the 27th Henry VIII., or probably 
earlier, for the cases printed of that reign are said 
to be collected with very little judgment. After 
that time a considerable period elapsed before the 
appearance of any new Reports. The first were 

* The correspondence between Mr. Hill and Mr. Justice 
Story will be found in the Law Review, 
i* Origines Jurid. p. 58. 



The Library. 187 

those of Edmund Plowden, Serjeant-at-Law, 
" the most accurate of all reporters." They con- 
tain cases in the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, and 
Elizabeth, and were first published in French under 
the name of Commentaries in 1684, folio ; four 
times reprinted in French, and an English translation 
published in 1761, folio. The next were those of 
Sir James Dyer, containing select cases from 
4 Henry VIII. to 24 Elizabeth, published by his 
nephews in 1585, folio, in French. Their ** grandeur 
and dignity," in the opinion of Sir Harbottle Grim- 
stone, " are an ample recompense for any failure in 
the number of persons reporting." They were five 
times reprinted, and an English translation was 
first published by Mr. John Vaillant, in three 
volumes, 8vo. 1794, with a life of the author from a 
MS. in the Library of the Inner Temple. In the 
year 1602, followed the Reports of Mr. Robert 
Keilwey, edited by John Croke,* Serjeant-at- 
Law, and Recorder of the City of London, brother 
of the Reporter of that name, containing Cases in 
the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. not 
reported in the Year-Books. 

To the Reports of SiR Edward Coke has 
been given as an especial distinction the title of 
The Reports ; and particular importance is at- 

* Speaker of the House of Commons, afterwards created a 
Knight, and Judge of the King's Bench. 



i88 Lincoln's Inn. 

tached to them as comprising the decisions of our 
courts of justice at a time when the law was, as it 
may be said, in a state of transition. Had it not 
been for these Reports, it is said by Lord Bacon 
that " the law by this time had been almost a ship 
without ballast.'* * They are in thirteen parts, 
eleven only of which appeared during the author's 
life-time, between the years 1601 and 1616, in 
French ; the twelfth part appeared in 1658, and the 
thirteenth in 1677, folio. They were printed in 
English in 1658 and in 1680 ; and in 1697 reprinted 
in French. In 1727 these Reports' were printed in 
seven volumes 8vo. with the pleadings in Latin ; 
in 1738, with the pleadings in English, in seven 
vols. 8vo. ; in 1776, with notes by Mr. Serjeant 
Wilson, in seven vols., 8vo. The last edition was 
in 1826, with Notes by J. H. Thomas, and J. F. 
Eraser, in six vols., 8vo. 

The rapid increase of Reports during the Com- 
monwealth is thus alluded to by BuLSTRODE,t 
whose Reports were published in 1657 : " Of late we 
have found so many wandering and masterless 
reports like the soldiers of Cadmus, daily rising 
up and jostling each other, that our learned Judges 
have been forced to provide against their multiplicity 



* Proposal for amending the Laws of England, 
f Dedicatory Epistle to his second volume. 



The Library. 189 

by disallowing of some posthumous Reports ; well 
considering that as laws are the anchors of the 
republic, so the Reports are as the anchors of 
laws, and therefore ought to be well weighed before 
put out." 

The Reports of SiR George Croke, containing 
cases in the reigns of Elizabeth, James, and Charles 
I., and regarded as of high authority, were published 
by Sir Harbottle Grimstone in 1657-61, in three 
volumes, folio. Having been published while the 
Ordinance of Parliament was in force, commanding 
the publication of law books in English, the editor 
was compelled reluctantly to translate them into 
English, but still enjoyed the satisfaction of print- 
ing them in black letter^ which he considered the 
Proper letter of the law. The last edition, the 
fourth, was by Thomas Leach, Esq., in 1790-92, 
four vols., 8vo. 

Upon the Restoration, a check was given to the 
indiscriminate printing of Reports by the Statute 
which prohibited the publication of law-books with- 
out the licence of certain of the Judges. In the 
reign of Charles XL, Reports were published by 
Henry Rolle, William Leonard, Sir Thomas 
Jones, and Sir John Vaughan. In the reign 
of James II. appeared the Reports of Sir Edmund 
Saunders, who was termed by Lord Mansfield 
the Terence of Reporters. The value of this work 



190 Lincoln's Inn. 

has been so much augmented by the annotations 
of Mr. Vaughan Williams, that the Terence has 
been aptly said to have met with a Bentley for his 
annotator. 

The regular periodical publication of Reports did 
not take place till the latter part of the last century, 
Mr. Durnford and Mr. Hyde East having led 
the way by publishing in conjunction the ; Cases 
adjudged in the Court of King's Bench within a 
short time after each Term, under the name of Term 
Reports. This example was followed by many 
other barristers, and the number of reporters mul- 
tiplied so rapidly that before the end of the reign of 
George III. they amounted to upwards of sixty in 
the different courts. 

In the year 1866 a new system of reporting 
was established, under the direction of a body 
named the Council of Law Reporting, consisting 
of the Law Officers of the Crown, who are ex- 
officio members, and of representatives appointed 
by Serjeant's Inn, the four Inns of Court, and the 
Incorporated Law Society. This Council owes its 
existence to a scheme for the amendment of the sys- 
tem of reporting judicial decisions adopted by the 
Bar at a meeting held on the 28th November 1864, 
under the presidency of Sir Roundell Palmer, then 
Attorney General, and now Lord Chancellor (Lord 
Selbome). The object of this scheme was *^the 






The Library. 191 

preparation under professional control through 
the medium of the Council, by barristers of known 
ability, skill, and experience, acting under the super- 
vision of editors, of one complete set of Reports, to 
be published with promptitude, regularity, and at 
moderate cost, in the expectation that such a set of 
Reports would be generally accepted by the pro- 
fession as sufficient evidence of case law ; so that 
the judge in decision, the advocate in argument, and 
the general practitioner in the advice he gives to his 
client, may resort to one and the same standard of 
authority," This scheme has received the support 
of the profession ; and the number of volumes pub- 
lished annually, comprising Reports of Cases in all 
the Courts, is about ten.* 

The Library possesses also a large collection of 
the Cases heard on Appeal before the House of 
Lords, as the supreme court of judicature in the 
kingdom, from the year 1664 to the present time, 
forming about •160 volumes in folio and 1 1 1 volumes 
in 4to. Besides these, there is a collection of Cases 
heard before the Judicial Committee of the Privy 
Council, from 1847 to the present time, forming 128 
volumes in folio. 



*The independent periodical publication of the Law 
Journal, the Law Times, the Solicitors' Journal, and the 
Weekly Reporter is still continued. 



192 Lincoln's Inn. 



ENGLISH LAW. 

3. STATUTES. 

The next division of English Law to be noticed 
is the Collection of the Statutes or Acts of Parlia- 
ment, the great importance of which in the study 
of history, as well as in the attainment of a scientific 
knowledge of the law, is very evident. ** Our Acts 
of Parliament," says Bishop Nicolson, *'give often 
such fair hints of the humours most prevailing at 
the time of their being enacted, that many parts of 
our history may be recovered from them, especially 
if compared with the writers, either in divinity or 
morality, about the same date." Mr. Daines Bar- 
rington observes, that our old acts of parliament 
are the very best materials for English history, and 
that they are strongly descriptive of the manners 
of the times. Mr. Raithby* says: "When it is 
considered that the Statute Book of England con- 
tains the best and surest history of the constitution 
of this country, it must be regretted that it is sel- 
dom perused but from the necessity of reference, 
or regarded in any higher light than a naked for- 
mulary of municipal regulations ; and it is much to 
be desired that the study of it should be regularly 



* Preface to the Statutes at Large. 



The Library. 193 

incorporated into the system of^ British educa- 
tion."* 

Statutes, or Acts of Parliament, compose that 
pa.rt of the law of England known by the denomi- 
na.tion of written laws in contradistinction to the 
common law, which is unwritten, and depends on 
immemorial custom. The general name for all 
laws anterior to the date of the earliest statutes 
now extant was either Assisae or Constitutiones. 

Statutes were originally founded upon petitions 
of the Commons, referred to certain tryers, being 
Lords of Parliament, and afterwards maturely con- 
sidered and replied to by the king, with the assist- 
ance of his responsible advisers. The statute 
itself was drawn up with the aid of the judges and 
other grave and learned persons, and was entered 
on a roll called the Statute Roll. The tenor of it 
was afterwards transcribed on parchment, and sent 

1 

to the sheriffs of every county for proclamation. 
In 2 Henry V. the Commons, in consequence of a 
corrupt practice of making alterations at the time 
of entering the bill on the Statute Roll, contended 
that, since they were assertors as well as petitioners, 

* In China, all persons holding official situations are 
required to be perfect in the knowledge of the laws, and 
their deficiency at the annual examination by their superiors 
subjects them to the loss of a month's salary, and the 
inferior officers are punished with forty blows. — Barrett's 
Code Napoleon, 

N 



194 Lincoln's Inn. 

statutes should be made according to the tenor 
of the writing of their petitions, and not altered. 
This petition, memorable on many accounts be- 
sides its intrinsic importance, is deserving of notice 
as the earliest instance in which the House of 
Commons adopted the English language. They 
had noble sentiments to utter, and they must have 
presently discovered that they were able to embody 
them in suitable expressions ; that there was no 
want of copiousness or of energy in the vernacular 
tongue.* 

The Statutes were originally either in Latin or 
French ; and a memorandum of the time and place 
of meeting of the Parliament was usually prefixed. 
The acts passed during one session formed one 
statute. The division into chapters, with titles, 
was an arbitrary invention of subsequent editors ; 
and the practice commenced in the 5th year of 
Henry Ylll. In the reigns of Henry VI. and 
Edward IV. the language of the Statutes was 
sometimes English, but more commonly French ; 
the Statutes of Henry VII. were the first that were 
all drawn in English. 

The printed promulgation of the Statutes in the 
form of sessional publications began in the reign of 
Richard III. ; at which period it has been errone- 
ously supposed that the distinction between public 

* Dwarris on Statutes. 



i^l 



The Library. 195 

and private acts originated. Numerous instances 
of the passing of acts of a private nature, are to be 
found in Riley's Placita Parliamentaria, and in the 
six volumes of the Rolls of Parliament, printed in 
I ^^^ ; but from the period mentioned, the division 
has been adopted in the Tables to the collections 
of the Statutes at Large. 

The first division of the Statutes is into Ancient 
and Modern ; those from Magna Charta to the end 
of the reign of Edward H. being called Vetera 
Statuta, those from the beginning of Edward IIL 
Nova Statuta. The Vetera Statuta include some 
which are termed incerti temporisy because it is 
not known whether they should be assigned to 
the reign of Henry IIL, Edward I. or Edward II. 
From some accidental circumstance of collection 
or publication they are divided into two parts. 

Modern Acts of Parliament are divided into the 
classes of Public General, Local and Personal, 
Private Acts printed by the King's Printer, and 
Private Acts not so printed ; but as some variations 
have from time to time taken place in the mode of 
division, the following statement derived from the 
Sessional Tables prefixed to the volumes of Statutes 
printed by authority, may be found useful. 

I. From the reign of Richard III. to 25 George 
II. the division is simply into Public and 
Private Acts. 



196 Lincoln's Inn. 

2. From 26 George II. to 37 George III. after the 

list of Public Acts is a list of Acts termed 
Public Acts not printed in this collection ; 
and then follows the list of Private Acts. 

3. From 38 George III. to 42 George III. the 

division is into three classes, termed Public 
General Acts ; Public Local and Personal 
Acts ; and Private Acts. 

4. From 43 George III. to 54 George III. the 

classes are termed Public General Acts; 
Local and Personal Acts to be judicially 
noticed; and Local and Personal Acts not 
printed.* 

5. From 55 George III. to the present time, the 

division is fourfold, under the following 
terms : — Public General Acts ; Local and 
Personal Acts declared Public, &c. ; Private 
Acts printed by the King's Printer ; and 
Private Acts not printed. From 31 and 32 
Vict, to the present time, the Public Acts of 
a local character have been printed with the 
Local and Personal Acts, the letter P. being 
placed in the margin of the list of those Acts 
to distinguish them ; although Public Acts, 

* The term "not printed " means that the Acts are not 
printed by the king's or queen's printer ; these Acts, which 
relate principally to inclosures, estates, &c., are printed at 
the expense of the parties concerned. 



The Library. 197 

they do not appear in the list nor in the in- 
dex of the Public Acts, but only in the list 
and index of the Local and Personal Acts. 
The principal editions of the Statutes may now 
be noticed in chronological order, most of these, 
with the exception of the rarest and earliest of them, 
being in the Library of Lincoln's Inn. 

In the earliest Collections and Abridgments, all 
the Statutes previous to the reign of Henry VII. 
were printed in Latin or French, the languages in 
which they were respectively passed. The first of 
these, entitled Vieu Abregement des Statuts, in 
folio, contains the Statutes in Latin and French, in 
alphabetical order, to 33 Henry VI. a.d. 1455, and 
is supposed to have been printed by Lettou and 
Machlinia before 1481. 

Nova Statuta, i Edward III. to 22 Edward IV. 
in Latin and French, supposed to have been 
printed by Machlinia after the preceding, about 
1482, folio. 

Statuta apud Westmonasterium edita anno primo 
regis Ricardi III. ; printed in French, by Caxton or 
Machlinia, in 1483, folio, immediately on being 
passed. This is the first instance of sessional pub- 
lication by the king's printer, a practice continued 
to the present time. 

Statutes of Henry VII. A complete series of 
the Statutes, from i to 7 Henry VII., the period of 



198 Lincoln's Inn. 

Caxton's decease, was published by that printer, in 
folio, without date. It consists of eighty-two pages, 
and is described in the Bibliotheca Spenceriana 
by Dr. Dibdin, who says, it may be questioned 
whether there are three perfect copies in existence. 

Several portions of the Statutes of Henry VII. 
were printed by Wynkyn de Worde. 

Between 1497 and 1504, the Statutes from 
I Edward III. to 12 Henry VII. inclusive, were 
printed by R. Pynson, in folio, in Latin and French 
respectively, those of Henry VII. only being in 
English. 

In 1508, Pynson printed in i2mo. the Statutes 
previous to i Edward III. which are usually called 
Antiqua Statuta or Vetera Statuta, those passed 
subsequently to that period being termed Nova 
Statuta. These were several times reprinted, and 
are the earliest printed copies known of these 
Statutes. 

In 1 53 1, Berth elet printed in i6mo. an edition of 
Antiqua Statuta, similar to Pynson's, with addi- 
tions ; and in 1532 he printed a small collection of 
other Statutes previous to Edward I IL which he 
entitled, Secunda Pars Veterum Statutorum. Of 
these two collections, several editions were after- 
wards published ; the principal are those of 
Tottell, 1556, 1576 and 1587, and that of Marshe, 
1556. 



1 



r 



a 



The Library. 199 

In the Alphabetical Abridgment of the Statutes 
by William Owen, of the Middle Temple, printed 
by Pynson in 152 1 and 15289 i2mo., not only the 
Acts previous to, and in the reign of Richard III. 
are in Latin or French, but the Abridgment of 
those of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. is in French, 
although they were passed and printed in English. 

Rastell's Abridgment. The first English Abridg- 
ment of the Statutes was translated and printed by 
John Rastell, in 15 19, folio, with a Preface on the 
propriety of the laws being published in English. 
This preface indicates the period when the Acts 
were first "endited and written" in English, ascrib- 
ing that measure to Henry VII. 

Ferrers' Translation. The earliest printed trans- 
lation, not abridged, of the Charters, and of several 
Statutes previous to i Edward III. was made by 
George Ferrers, member of parliament. It was 
first printed in 1534, in 8vo. by Redman, and re- 
published in 1 540 and 1542, with some amendments 
and additions. This translation was generally 
adopted in subsequent editions of the Statutes. 

In 1543, a volume of Statutes, in English, from 
Magna Charta to 19 Henry VII. was printed by 
Thomas Berthelet, the king's printer, in folio, and a 
second volume soon afterwards, containing those 
of Henry VIII. This is the first complete chrono- 
logical series, either in the English, or the original 



2CX) Lincoln's Inn. 

languages, and the first translation of the Statutes 
from I Edward III. to i Henry VII. The first 
volume was reprinted in 1564, and the second in 

1544, iSSh 1563, and 1575. 

Between 1541 and 1548 "The Great Boke of 
Statutes "in English, from i Edward III. to 34 
Henry VIII. was printed as far as 24 Henry VII. 
by R. Myddylton, and thence by Berthelet, in 
folio. 

Rastell's Collection of Statutes. In 1557, a 
Collection of Acts from Magna Charta to that 
period, in alphabetical order, was published by 
William Rastell, Sergeant-at-Law, afterwards Chief 
Justice of K. B. The Statutes to the end of 
the reign of Richard III. are given either in Latin 
or French, as first published, and all subsequent in 
English. This collection was reprinted in 1579, 
and frequently afterwards, with the Acts prior to 
Henry VII. translated into English. 

In the edition of Statutes in English, printed by 
C. Barker, in 1587, folio, the Title affords the 
earliest instance of the term, Statutes at Large. 

In the " Collection of Sundry Statutes frequent in 
use," ending with 7 James I. published by Ferdi- 
nando Pulton in 161 8, folio, the editor first intro- 
duced a regular series of titles at the head of every 
chapter, apparently of his own invention. 

In 1 61 8, the Statutes at Large, in English, were 



The Library. 201 

published by the king's printers, Norton and Bill, 
in folio. This Collection, professing to contain all 
the Acts at any time extant in print until 6 James 
I. is usually called Rastell's Statutes, although 
Rastell had been long deceased. 

An authentic Collection of the Acts and Ordi- 
nances passed from 1640 to 1656, by Henry 
Scobell, Clerk of the Parliament, was printed in 
1658, folio. Partial collections of these were printed 
by Husband in 1646, by Field in 165 1, &c. After 
the Restoration, the Statutes of the reign of 
Charles I. and Charles II. by Thomas Manby 
were printed in 1667, foHo. 

Respecting the various editions of the* Statutes 
at Large, by Joseph Keble in 1676 ; by Mr. Ser- 
jeant Hawkins, in 1735, six vols, folio ; by John 
Cay in 1758, six vols, folio ; by Owen Ruff head, in 
1 762-1 800, eighteen vols. 4to. ; by Danby Picker- 
ing, in 1762, twenty-three vols. 8vo. continued 
annually ; as well as those above noticed, full 
information is contained in the Introduction to the 
Statutes of the Realm published by the Record 
Commission. This valuable publication, containing 
all the Charters, with engraved fac-similes, and the 
Statutes from that of Merton, 20 Henry III. to the 
end of the reign of Anne, in tjieir original languages, 
with translations, under the editorial care of Sir T. E. 
Tomlins, J. Raithby, &c. was printed in 1 810-1828 in 



202 Lincoln's Inn. 

eleven volumes folio, with Alphabetical and Chrono- 
logical Indexes. In the Introduction it is stated, 
that no complete Collection has been printed con- 
taining all the matters which at different times, 
and by different editors, have been published as 
Statutes ; and that no one complete printed trans- 
lation of all the ' Acts previous to the reign of 
Henry VII. exists. 

The quarto edition of the Statutes by Ruffhead 
was continued by Tomlins, Raithbyj Simons, and 
Rickards successively, from 1801 to 1869, when the 
publication in that form was discontinued, and the 
place is supplied from 1870 to the present time by 
the octavo edition published by the Council of Law 
Reporting. 

The folio edition of the Statutes, published ses- 
sionally by authority, printed in black letter till 33 
George III. and continued in the Roman character, 
is in the Library, commencing with 21 Jac. I. ; 
and also the Local and Personal Acts from 38 
George III., and the Private Acts from i George 
II. 1727 to the present time. 

In the year 1870, in compliance with the letter of 
the Lord Chancellor (Cairns) to Sir John G. Shaw 
Lefevre, Clerk of the Parliaments, dated 9th July 
1868, appeared the first volume of a revised edition 
of the Statutes, containing only such Acts as are in 
force. They are under the editorship of Mr. Arthur 



^f 



The Library. 203 

John Wood, Mr. G. K. Rickards, Mr. P. Vernon 
Smith, and Mr. W. L. Selfe, and are printed in 
royal octavo ; three volumes have now been pub- 
lished,* and it is expected that the Acts will be 
comprised in about eighteen volumes. With this 
edition has also been published by authority a 
Chronological Table and Index to the Statutes, the 
second edition of which reaches to the end of the 
Session of 1872 ; the Table being framed by Mr. 
A. J. Wood, the Index by Mr. Henry Jenkyns with 
the assistance of Mr. Chaloner W. Chute. 

By the kind courtesy of the public authorities, a 
considerable collection of the Statutes of the various 
colonies o£ Great Britain, comprising those of 
Canada, Jamaica, Australia, Barbados, Mauritius, 
New Zealand, &c., &c., now have a place in the 
Library. 

The Library of Lincoln's Inn possesses several 
volumes of the Statutes in manuscript, the gifts of 
various benefactors. Most of them are written on 
vellum, in fine preservation, and some illuminated ; 
they are chiefly of the fourteenth century. 

Statutes of Scotland. The first general 
collection of these Statutes, published by authority, 
was edited by Dr. Edward Henryson, and printed 

* Vol. I. Henry 1 1 1. -James II., 1235-36-1685. Vol IL 
William and Mary-io George III., 1688-1770. Vol. III. n 
George 1 1 1. -41 George III., lyjo-iSoa 



204 - Lincoln's Inn. 

at Edinburgh in 1556, by Robert Lekpreuik, in 
folio. From the character in which they are 
printed, these are usually termed the " Black Acts." 
But this collection contains only the Acts from 
the return of James I. to Scotland in 1424 to the 
last parliament of Queen Mary in 1564. Another 
edition, containing the Acts from the same period to 
December 1597, was published in that year by Sir 
John Skene, Clerk of Register. In 1609, a col- 
lection of the Laws of Scotland from the reign of 
Malcolm II. A.D. 1004 to that of Robert III. A.D. 
1400, was published by Sir John Skene, in the 
original Latin, and a Scottish translation was 
printed at the same time, both in folio, with the 
treatises of " Regiam Majestatem " and " Quoniam 
Attachiamenta," * so called from their initial words. 
This translation was reprinted in 1613, and again 
in 1774, 4to. In the year 1681, the Acts from 
19 James I. 1424 to 33 Charles II. 168 1, were 
published in folio, by Sir Thomas Murray of Glen- 
dook, Clerk of the Council. There is also an 
edition, commonly called "the Scotch Acts," in 
three vols. i2mo., containing the Acts from 1424 
to 1707. 

An edition has likewise been published by the 
Record Commission in eleven volumes, folio, con- 

* This consists chiefly of rules of proceedings in Court. 



The Library. 205 

taining all the Acts of Parliament from the reign of 
David I. A.D. 1 1 24 to 1707, the year of the Union 
of the kingdoms of England and Scotland. This 
edition was published under the superintendence of 
Mr. Thomas Thomson, Deputy Clerk Register of 
Scotland,* the first volume, which was not printed 
till 1844, being brought to completion by Mr. C. 
^ Innes. The date of the other volumes is 1814- 

1824. In the first volume is a collation of the 
Regiam Majestatem with the treatise of Glanville, 
by which it is shown to contain the same matter 
almost in the same words. The Regiam Majes- 
tatem professes to be compiled by a private 
individual, by the command of King David ; f but 
the period of its compilation is now ascertained to 
be about two centuries later. Except in the manu- 
script collections which contain the treatise itself, 
there is no mention of the work earlier than in 
the ordinance of the Parliament of James I. in 
1425. , The earliest copies now extant were written 
about the end of the 14th century. 



* Under the same superintendence were published in 
1839, the Acts of thie Lords Auditors of Causes and Com- 
plaints, from 1466 to 1494, and the Acts of the Lords of 
Council in Civil Causes, from 1478 to 1495. 

+ The early collectors of the laws of Scotland have con- 
curred in ascribing a large body of ordinances to King 
David L as the Justinian of that kingdom. 



2o6 Lincoln's Inn. 

The first general collection of the Statutes of 
Ireland was made under the authority of Sir 
Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of that kingdom in the 
reign of Elizabeth, and contains the Acts from lo 
Henry VI. to 14 Elizabeth. It was printed at London 
by R. Tottell in 1572, folio. In 162 1, a Collection 
of Acts from 3 Edward II. to 13 James I. made 
by Sir Richard Bolton, Recorder of Dublin, was 
printed in that city, in folio. This was reprinted 
by the king's printer in 1678, and again in 1723. 
In 1765, the Statutes from 3 Edward II. were 
printed by authority in Dublin, in seven vols, folio, 
with an eighth volume of Tables. A republication 
of these took place in 1 786, and was continued to 
40 George III. 1800, forming, with two volumes of 
Indexes by William Ball, twenty-one volumes, 
folio. 

ENGLISH LAW. 

4. TRIALS. 

The Library possesses, besides several editions 
of the State Trials, an extensive collection of cri- 
minal and other trials. Such collections are valu- 
able not only to the lawyer, but afford rich materials 
for the study of history, indicating in some degree 
the character of the times in which they occur, the 
manners and habits of the people, as well as their 



The Library. 207 

moral and intellectual condition. The trials of 
former times give life and reality, and what may be 
termed dramatic effect, to history ; and exhibit a 
great variety of character under circumstances of 
difficulty and danger. 

The State Trials were first collected and printed 
in 17 19, with a Preface by Mr. Salmon, in four 
volumes, folio. The second edition was in 1730^ 
with a Preface by Mr. Emlyn, in six volumes, 
folio ; reprinted in 1742. Two supplemental 
volumes were printed in 1735, and two additional 
volumes in 1766. A fourth edition was given to 
the public by Mr. Hargrave, in eleven volumes, 
folio, 1766-81 ; and a new edition by W. Cobbett, 
T. B. Howell, and J. B. Howell, with an Index by 
David Jardine, in thirty-four vols. 8vo., 1809-28. 
This last collection commences with the proceed- 
ings against Archbishop Becket, 9 Henry III. 
A.D. 1 163. 

In the Library is a Collection of Papers, printed 
and manuscript, relating to the memorable trial of 
Warren Hastings, This trial, remarkable on many 
accounts, is distinguished by the display of talent in 
the managers and advocates engaged in the cause, 
and called forth some of the most brilliant speeches 
of Burke, Fox, and Sheridan. The Collection con- 
tains all the Reports of Committees, the Minutes 
of Evidence, and various other documents, with the 



2o8 Lincoln's Inn. 

whole of the Proceedings at the Trial, which lasted 
130 days, continued at intervals from 1788 to 
1794. These Papers, with Indexes, are bound in 
fifty-eight volumes, folio ; of these, thirty-eight 
containing the Report of the Trial, are in manu- 
script, copied from the short-hand notes of Mr. 
Gumey ; and amongst them is an unpublished 
speech of Sheridan. The collection was purchased 
of Mr. Adolphus, by whom it had been used in his 
interesting narrative of the Trial in his History of 
the Reign of George the Third, i 

Here is also a Collection of the Trials at the 
Sessions of the Old Bailey, now the Central Cri- 
minal Court, from the year 1730 to' the present 
time, in 122 vols. 4to. and y6 vols., 8vo. A part 
of this set was formerly in the magnificent library 
of John, Duke of Roxburghe. In the Library of 
Lincoln's Inn there is likewise a Collection of all 
the publications relating to the celebrated Douglas 
Cause, including all the Speeches and Arguments 
in the case, and the Various pamphlets written on 
the occasion. 

ROMAN OR CIVIL LAW. 

The next department of the Library to be no- 
ticed is that devoted to Civil and Foreign Law, and 
in this division the number of works is scarcely 
inferior to that of the writers on the Law of Eng- 



The Library. 209 

land. The importance of the study of the Civil or 
Roman Law, and the great influence which that law 
has exercised over the judicial institutions of Eng- 
land, as well as of other European nations, are now 
generally admitted. 

By Sir Matthew Hale it is observed " that the 
true grounds and reasons of law were so well deli- 
vered in the Digest, that a man could never un- 
derstand law as a science so well as by seeking it 
there." By Sit John Holt,* Lord Chief Justice 
of K. B. in the reign of William IIL it was con- 
fessed that the principles of our law are borrowed 
from the Civil Law, and therefore grounded upon the 
same reason. 

All that is now extant of Roman legislation 
consists of some fragments of the Laws of the 
Twelve Tables ; the Theodosian Code ; the Corpus 
Juris Civilis ; the Institutions of Gains ; the re- 
mains of legislation before the time of Justinian, 
which are preserved in the Quatuor Pontes Juris 
Civilis by Godefroy, Jurisprudentia Vetus Ante- 
Justinianea, by Schulting, Jus Civile Ante-Jus- 
tinianeum, by Hugo, and Juris Romani Ante-Jus- 
tinianei Fragmenta Vaticana, by Angelo Mai ; to 
which may be added the Leges Regiae collected by 

* The name of Holt can never be pronounced without 
veneration, so long as wisdom and integrity are revered 
among men. — Sir James Mackintosh. 

O 



2IO Lincoln's Inn. 

Lipsius and others, and laws attributed to Romulus, 
published by Balduinus. 

With respect to the Laws of the Twelve Tables, 
though there is much controversy regarding their 
origin, there is none about their existence. At the 
beginning of the fourth century after the founda- 
tion of the city of Rome, the old laws were reduced 
to writing by a supreme council appointed for the 
purpose, with additions chiefly from the Greek laws 
and customs. Ten tables thus formed, afterwards 
increased to twelve, were the foundation of the 
Roman Law. The praetors, moreover, upon their 
entrance into office, promulgated an edict, or body 
of the rules which they intended to follow in 
deciding causes. Commentaries were afterwards 
written upon these edicts by the lawyers ; and in 
the course of time the number of law-books in- 
creased to an enormous extent, in consequence of 
which the great work of reducing them to the form 
of a digest was undertaken by the Emperor Justinian 
in the sixth century of the Christian era. 

In A.D. 438, the emperor Theodosius the Second 
caused a body of laws to be compiled, which from 
him is named the Theodosian Code. It contains 
the edicts and rescripts of sixteen emperors, from 
the year 312, the era of the first Christian emperor, 
to 438, and was promulgated both in the eastern and 
western empire. The emperor had been preceded in 



The Library. 211 

the compilation of a body of laws by two lawyers 
Gregorianus and Hermogenianus, some fragments 
of which have been preserved. After the establish- 
ment of the kingdom of the Visigoths, a digest of 
Roman law was framed by the authority of Alaric II. 
in the year 506, for the use of the Roman inhabit- 
ants of that kingdom. This compilation, named the 
Breviary,* comprises extracts from the Theodosian 
Code, from the Novels of Theodosius and other 
emperors, from the works of the jurists Gains and 
Paulus, and from the Gregorian and Hermogenian 
codes, with an interpretation which accommodated 
these dispositions of the Roman Law to the existing 
state of society. This interpretation is of the 
highest historical value, giving a faithful picture 
of the political condition of the Romans.t 

The Theodosian Code was first printed at Basle 
in 1528, folio, under the care of John Sichard ; 
the second edition was by Jean du Tillet, Paris, 
1558, 8vo. This edition is more complete than 
the former, but omits the ancient commentary. It 
was followed by that of Cujacius, printed at Lyons, 
in 1566, folio ; again at Paris, in 1586, folio, and 



*■ This name was given to the work in the i6th century, 
"when it was called the Breviary of Anianus, by whose 
signature the copies dispatched to the different districts 
were authenticated. 

f Quarterly Jurist. 



212 Lincoln's Inn. 

at Geneva in 1586, 4to. Various other editions 
were printed, but all were eclipsed by that of James 
Godefroy, who was engaged for the space of thirty 
years in the work, and died in 1652, before its 
completion. The edition was committed to the 
press by Anthony Marville, professor of law in 
the university of Valence, who had purchased the 
library of Godefroy, including his manuscripts. 
" Immortale opus est, quod Gothofredus perficit," 
is the testimony of Hugo, the eminent German 
civilian, to the merit of the work. Gibbon also 
speaks in the highest terms of its usefulness as a 
work of history as well as of jurisprudence. The 
Code was republished ?it Leipsic, in 1736-45, in 
six volumes, folio, by John Daniel Ritter, professor 
of philosophy, eminently qualified for the task. By 
subsequent additions* from recently discovered 
manuscripts, the first five books of the Theodosian 
Code, which had long appeared defective, are 
greatly improved. 

The Roman Law contained in the CORPUS Juris 
CiviLis consists of the Code, Digest, and Insti- 
tutes of Justinian, with the Novellae or Novel Con- 

* Some additions, from a MS. in the Vatican, were 
published some years after Ritter's edition, by Zirardini 
and Amaduzzi ; and some fragments have been more recently 
discovered in other libraries by the professors Peyron and 
Clossius. These new materials have received additional 
illustration from Dr. Wenck, professor of civil law in the 
university of Leipsic. 



The Library. 213 

stitutions and thirteen edicts of that emperor, to 
which have been subsequently added the Novellae 
of Leo and other emperors, and the Feudorum 
Consuetudines. In A.D. 528, a commission was 
appointed by Justinian, at the head of which was 
placed his minister Tribonian, for the purpose of 
compiling a new Code. The collection made by 
this commission, containing the edicts and rescripts 
of emperors from Hadrian to Justinian, was com- 
pleted and sanctioned in the year 529 ; but some 
new decisions having been found necessary, the 
code was revised, the first edition suppressed, and 
a new one, with these laws inserted, sanctioned in 
534. In the year 530, Tribonian was appointed, 
with sixteen associates, to prepare a digest of legal 
science, from writings of the highest reputation ; 
and the work thus compiled was published a.d. 
533 under the title of Digests or Pandects. Tri- 
bonian was also employed, in conjunction with 
Theophilus, professor of law at Constantinople, 
and Dorotheus, professor at Berytus,* to prepare 

* The city of Berytus, beautifully situated on the coast 
of Syria, was celebrated for its school of jurisprudence, 
founded during the third century. It was destroyed by an 
earthquake in the year 554, and near the ancient site another 
town named Beirout was founded by the Druses, and 
possessed by the Emirs as their capital till their expulsion 
by Djezzar, Pasha of Acre. The name has become again 
famous from its connection with the memorable destruction 



214 Lincoln's Inn. 

an introduction to the study of the law. This was 
sanctioned in 533, and published under the title of 
Institutes. "This little work/' says Dr. Bever, 
"is so truly admirable, both for its method and 
conciseness, as well as for the elegance of its 
composition, that it has been imitated by -almost 
every nation in Europe that has ever made any 
pretence to reduce its own laws to a regular and 
scientific form." It is formed on the model of the 
Institutions of Caius or Gaius, a jurist who lived 
about the time of Antoninus, the recent discovery 
of which is regarded, from the illustrations it affords 
of the Roman Law^ as forming a new era in the 
history of jurisprudence.* 

The Institutions of Gaius, a work of which only 
some fragments had been previously known, was 
discovered by Niebuhr in the Cathedral Library 
of Verona. An extract from the manuscript was 
communicated to Professor Savigny, of Berlin, 
who easily ascertained that it formed a portion of 
the work of Gaius. Professors Goschen and Bek- 

of Acre, under Sir Charles Napier, in 1840. Since that 
period a British consul has been resident there. 

* In a volume just published (Oxford, 1873), entitled : 
• •The Institutes of Justinian, edited as a recension of the 
Institutes of Gaius," by Mr. T. E. Holland, of Lincoln's 
Inn, the editor has shown, by the use of a. distinctive type in 
printing, what proportion of text is common to both works, 
and thus hopes that by the comparison • ' some light may be 
thrown upon the historical development of Roman law." 



The Library. 215 

ker, members of the university of Berlin, were 
dispatched by the Royal Academy of that city to 
Verona, to execute a transcript of the MS.,* a 
task in which they were aided by Dr. Bethmann 
HoUweg, professor of law at Bonn. The work 
was published by Goschen at Berlin in 1820, and 
reprinted in 1824, in 8vo., and edited subsequently 
by Bocking, Gneist, Huschke, &c. ; and by its 
restoration much light has been thrown upon the 
Roman law, many doubts have been elucidated, and 
difficulties, before regarded as hopeless, cleared up.t 
There are also some English translations of the 
work. 

The Institutes of Justinian were first printed at 
Mentz, by Schoeffer, in 1468, folio ; the Code, in 
1475, t)y the same printer ; and the whole of the 
Pandects in 1489, at Venice. Portions of the 
Pandects were printed in 1475. In the Library 
of Lincoln's Inn is a fine copy of the Digestum 
Novum, J printed by Jen son at Venice in 1477 ; of 

* This ancient manuscript, supposed to have been written 
before the compilation of Justinian, is a codex rescriptus^ 
and to a considerable extent bis rescriptus, and could not 
be deciphered without the aid of a chemical process. 

t Dr. living's Introduction to the Study of the Civil 
Law; and Smith's Greek and Roman Biography. 

X In the 15th century the Digest was divided into three 
parts, the Digestum Vetus, Infortiatum, and Digestum 
Novum. Various conjectures have been given respecting 
the etymology of the word Infortiatum. The division so 



2i6 Lincoln's Inn. 

the Digestum Vetus, printed by Baptist de Tortis 
at Venice in 1494 ; the Code by the same printer 
in 1493, and by Nicolas de Benedictis at Lyons, 
in 1506. All these are in folio, in the original oak 
binding. There is also a copy of the edition of 
the Pandects, by Laelius and Francis Taurelli, 
beautifully, printed by Torrentino at Florence in 
1553, folio, from the celebrated manuscript pre- 
served in the Medicean Library. The story, long 
prevalent, respecting the discovery of this manu- 
script at the capture of the city of Amalfi, and its 
subsequent removal to Florence, has been shown 
to be unfounded, and is now universally discredited. 
It is, however, regarded as the most authentic 
manuscript, and volumes of controversy have 
been written on the subject. Among the editions of 
the Corpus Juris Civilis in the Library, is that with 
the gloss, or interpretation of Accursius, printed 
at Lyons in 1627, in six volumes, folio ; and that 
with the notes of Denis Godefroy, printed by 
Elzevir at Amsterdam in 1663, two volumes folio, 
edited by Simon Van Leeuwen. 

A Greek paraphrase of the Institutes was written 
by Theophilus, one of the compilers of the original 

named begins with the third title of the twenty-fourth book, 
** Soluto Matrimonio," and ends with the thirty-eighth book. 
The word Pandects, derived from the Greek, denotes the 
comprehensive nature of the work. 



The Library. 217 

work. Of this paraphrase several editions have 
been printed ; the most complete is by William 
Otto Reitz, printed at the Hague in 175 1, in two 
volume?, 4to. In the opinion of Haubold, professor 
of law at Leipsic, this is unequalled by any similar 
publication, except Ritter^s edition of the Theodo- 
sian Code. The Pandects and Code were likewise 
translated into Greek. 

The Basilica is a body of law chiefly compiled 
from that of Justinian for the government of the 
eastern empire. Its name is derived, either from 
the emperor Basilius, or from its containing 
imperial constitutions (Ba<riXticaj Staro^ets). The 
work was undertaken by Basilius, but the death of 
that emperor occurring in 886, before its completion, 
the task was effected by his son Leo, sumamed the 
philosopher ; and the work received a final revision 
Tinder Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the son of 
Leo. A portion of this work was first published in 
1557 at Paris, by Gentian Hervet ; other portions 
appeared at various times ; but the most complete 
edition, till the recent publication of Heimbach, 
was that by Charles Annibal Fabrot, professor of 
law in the university of Aix, printed at Paris in 
1647, in six volumes, folio. A supplement to 
this edition, by W. O. Reitz, containing Books 
XLix.-Lil., was printed in Meerman's Thesaurus, 
and reprinted, with additions, by David Ruhn- 



2i8 Lincoln's Inn. 

kenius at Leyden in 1765. A new edition, in six 
volumes, 4to., has lately been completed by Charles 
William Ernest Heimbach. The first volume was 
printed at Leipsic in 1833, and the last in 1870. 

The most distinguished of the French, Italian, 
Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as the German and 
Dutch writers on the Roman Law, have their place 
in the Library. 

In England the Civil Law was publicly taught at 
a very early period. The first professor was Vaca- 
rius, a native of Lombardy, who had studied under 
Imerius at Bologna, and who read lectures in the 
university of Oxford in the reign of Stephen a.d. 
1 1 50, and composed for the use of his pupils a 
compendious treatise, extracted from the Code 
and Pandects. His history has been illustrated 
by Dr. Wenck, professor in the university of 
Leipsic, who has inserted the Prologue and copious 
extracts from the work in the volume he has pub- 
lished on the subject, in which he has corrected 
the errors of previous writers respecting Vacarius. 
Several manuscripts of the epitome of Vacarius are 
in existence. The works of Aldric, an English 
lawyer who taught at Oxford in the reign of Henry 
II., are cited by Accursius in his Gloss. 

The Canon Law (from Kavuv, a rule), a term 
used to denote the ecclesiastical law sanctioned by 
the church of Rome, is contained in the Corpus 



The Library. 219 

Juris Canonici. The laws of the ancient Greek 
church are contained in the Bibliotheca Juris Ca- 
nonici Veteris edited by William Voel and Henry 
Justel, printed at Paris in 1661, in two volumes, 
folio ; and in the publication of Bishop Beveridge 
entitled, Pandectae Canonum SS. Apostolorum, et 
Conciliorum ab Ecclesia Graeca receptorum &c., 
two vols, folio, Oxford, 1672. 

The contents of the Corpus Juris Canonici are : 
I. Gratiani Decretum, originally entitled Concor- 
dia discordantium Canonum. Gratian was a na- 
tive of Clusium, or Chiusi, near Florence, and a 
Benedictine monk of S. Felice at Bologna. The 
work was completed in 1 15 1. The principal sources 
from which it is derived are the Scriptures, the 
Apostolical Canons, the decisions of councils, the 
decretal epistles of pontiffs, the works of the Greek 
and Latin Fathers, the Theodosian Code, Cor- 
pus Juris Civilis, &c. 2. Decretalium D. Gre- 
gorii Papas IX. Compilatio.* This was framed un- 
der the direction of Gregory IX. who filled the 
papal chair from 1227 to 124 1. In the execution 

* This compilation had been preceded by those of Diony- 
sius Exiguus, an abbot in the sixth century, and Fulgentius 
Ferrandus, who flourished soon afterwards ; Isidonis His- 
palensis, Bishop of Seville from 595 to 636 ; Cresconius, 
about 690 ; Isidorus Mercator, otherwise called Peccator, 
about 830, and described as impostor nequissimus; and 
Ivo, Bishop of Chartresfrom 109a to 11 15. 



220 Lincoln's Inn. 

of the work he employed Raymundo de Penafort, a 
learned Spaniard, afterwards canonised. These de- 
cretals are rescripts of the popes, in answer to pre- 
lates and other persons by whom they have been 
consulted. 3. Liber Sextus Decretalium D. Bo- 
nifacii Papae VI XL This is supplementary to the 
former collection, and was compiled under the au- 
thority of Boniface, pontiff from 1294 to 1303. 4. 
dementis Papae V. Constitutiones in Concilio Vie- 
nensi editae. Clement, whose residence was at 
Avignon, presided in the council of Vienne in the 
year 13 12; and in addition to the constitutions 
there enacted, his collection comprises some other 
constitutions and decretals divulged by himself. 
These Clementinae were promulgated in 13 17 by 
his successor, John XXII. 5. Extravagantes D. 
Joannis Papae XXII. This collection consists of 
twenty constitutions of John XXII., and was so 
named because they wandered beyond the limits of 
the collection which contained the works already 
enumerated as belonging to the body of the canon 
law. 6. Extravagantes Communes. This collec- 
tion comprehends the constitutions of various popes 
from Urban VI. to Sixtus IV. 

Many editions of the Corpus Juris Canonici have 
been published ; that by the brothers P. and F. 
Pithou, printed at Paris in 1687, 2 vols, folio, is 
much esteemed, but the edition printed at Lyons in 



The Library. 221 

1 671, 3 vols, folio, is regarded as the best ; another 
is also worthy of notice, as being edited by a Pro- 
testant professor of law, J. H. Boehmer,* printed at 
Halle in 1747, 2 vols. 4to. The last edition was by 
iE. L. Richter, professor of law in the academy of 
Marburg, printed at Leipsic in 1839, 4^0- This 
contains likewise the Canons and Decrees of the 
council of Trent. 

The Institutions of Jo. Paulus Lancelottus, in- 
serted in some of the editions of the Corpus Juris 
Canonici, do not form an essential part of the au- 
thorised collection, never having received the papal 
sanction, though undertaken with the approbation 
of Paul IV. They are the production of a lawyer, 
are closely modelled upon the Institutes of Justinian, 
and were first published in 1563, shortly before the 
dissolution of the council of Trent. 

Besides the general body of canon law, every 
nation in Christendom has its own national canon 
law, composed of Legatine, Provincial, and other 
Ecclesiastical Constitutions. 

The Legatine Constitutions of England are the 
ecclesiastical laws enacted in national synods, held 
under the cardinals Otho and Othobbn, legates 



* Such was the reputation enjoyed by this professor, that, 
according to the Baron de Bielfeld, difficult and intricate 
processes were frequently transmitted from Italy, to be 
decided by the law faculty of the Protestant university of 
Halle, during the period when Boehmer was dean. 



222 Lincoln's Inn. 

from the Popes Gregory IX. and Clement IV. in 
the reign of Henry III. The provincial Constitu- 
tions are principally the decrees of provincial sy- 
nods, held under divers archbishops of Canterbury, 
from Stephen Langton, in the reign of Henry III., 
to Henry Chichele, in the reign of Henry V. These 
constitutions were adopted by the province of York 
in the reign of Henry VI. 

Commentaries have been written upon the Pro- 
vincial Constitutions of England by several canon- 
ists, the chief of whom is William Lyndwood, 
divinity professor at Oxford, official of Canterbury, 
and bishop of St. David's in 1434. His Provin- 
CIALE was first printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 
1496, and has been several times reprinted. The 
Library possesses the Paris edition of 1505, that of 
Antwerp, 1525, and that of Oxford, 1679, ^o^io* 
"The learned canonist has digested under heads 
the substance of almost every constitution made in 
the synods of the province of Canterbury from the 
time of Stephen Langton to Archbishop Chichele. 
The method he has taken is that of the decretals 
of Pope Gregory IX., justly esteemed the most valu- 
able and systematic part of the canon law. To 
this digest he has added a comment, replete with 
illustration from the writings of foreign canonists, 
and long experience in our own ecclesiastical courts. 
The merit of its execution has placed Lyndwood 



The Library. 223 

in much above his predecessor John de Athona, who 
u- had led the way in this walk of study by his gloss on 
v- the legatine constitutions of Otho and Othobon." * 
T, Among the writers on Feudal Law the works of 
[ Du Moulin, Schilter, Corvinus, Struve, Hervd, &c. 
:e are in the Library. The digest of consuetudinary 
K I law, known under the name of Feudorum Consue- 
tudines, and commonly subjoined to the Corpus 
I- , Juris Civilis, is said to have been compiled in the 
reign of Frederick Barbarossa, A.D. 1152-1190, 
by Gerardus Niger, likewise called Capagistus, and 
by Obertus de Orto or Horto, both lawyers, and 
consuls of Milan. 

Here may be mentioned also the Codex Legum 
Antiquarum of Frederick Lindenbrog, a lawyer of 
Hamburg, containing the Codes of the Visigoths, 
Lombards, Franks, Burgundians, and other " bar- 
barous " nations. It was published at Frankfort in 
1 61 3, folio. A similar collection was published by 
P. Georgisch at Halle, entitled Corpus Juris Ger- 
manici Antiqui, 1738, 4to. ; and another by Paul 
Canciani, '* Barbarorum Leges Antiquae," printed 
^,^-fff^enice in 1781, five vols, folio. 

With respect to these laws, it is a curious fact 
that law should be " attached not to place but to 
persons — a sort of movable chattel, or piece of 

* Reeves's Hist, of the English Law. 



r 



224 Lincoln's Inn. 

household furniture, which each individual shall be 
at liberty to transport with himself from place to 
place in every capricious change of his abode. 
Such, however, was the law of the dark ages. Xhe 
Lombard, the Goth, the Frank, the Burgundian, the 
Saxon, the Roman, residing in the same district, 
all enjoyed their separate laws."* It constantly 
happens, says Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons, in a 
letter to Louis le Debonaire, that of five persons 
who are walking or sitting together, not one is 
subject to the same law as the other.f 

In these collections are printed the Formularies 
of Marculf, a French monk who lived in the seventh 
century, exhibiting the forms of forensic proceedings 
and of legal instruments. " So naturally is law con- 
nected with precision and form ; and thus soon, even 
before the year 660, was it found necessary to re- 
duce the institutions and legsd proceedings of bar- 
barians into that sort of precision which is fully 
exhibited in our modern practice, and which is 
found so necessary." X 

Another curious relique of early jurisprudence is 
the " Assises de Jerusalem," a body of laws framed 
for the government of his new subjects by Godfrey 
of Bouillon, elected king of Jerusalem after its 

* Quarterly Jurist. 

+ Bouquet Recueil des Historiens. 

X Professor Smyth's Lectures on Modern History. 



\^ 



I 



« 
"« 

i 



The Library. 225 

conquest by the crusaders, a.d. 1099. They are 
based chiefly on the customary laws of France, and 
were called Assises from their having been con- 
\. firmed in a sitting or assembly of the chief persons 

of the state. They were afterwards modified and 
enlarged by Godfrey and his successors ; and about 
the year 1230 were arranged by Jean d'Ibelin, 
Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, Lord of Beirout and 
Rama, These laws were introduced into the island 
of Cyprus by Guy de Lusignan, and, after that 
island had fallen under the dominion of the Vene- 
tians in 1489, were translated into the Italian lan- 
guage, and printed at Venice in 1535, folio. The 
first French edition of Assises was by Gaspard 
Thaumas de la Thaumassiere, printed at Bourges 
in 1690, folio, with the " Coutumes de Beauvoisis,* 
by Beaumanoir. They were printed in Latin by 
Canciani in his Barbarorum Leges Antiquae. A 
beautiful edition by Count Beugnot was printed at 
Paris in 1841, in two vols, folio, forming part of 
the " Recueil des Historiens des Croisades," pub- 
lished by order of the French government. M. 
Victor Foucher also commenced an edition, of which 
two volumes have been published, 1839-41, 8vo. 
The first volume of another edition, by E. H. 
Kausler, of Stuttgart, intended to form three vols* 
4to. was printed in 1839. 



f 

i 



\ 



i 



226 Lincoln's Inn. 



J 



FOREIGN LAW. 

THfi department of Foreign Law in the Library 
received an important accession from the liberal 
donation already mentioned of Mr. Purton Cooper, 
and from this source the divisions of Spanish, 
German, Danish, and Northern Law have been 
especially enriched. Many books in these classes, j 

beautifully printed, in admirable preservation, and 
of great intrinsic value, were also obtained by pur- 
chase from the collection of the late Mr. John Miller, 
one of the Benchers of Lincoln's Inn, eminently 
distinguished by his knowledge of languages, whose 
library was peculiarly rich in books on foreign law 
in the finest condition. 

Among numerous works on the Law of France 
may be noticed the collection entitled Ordonnances 
des Rois de France de la TroisiSme Race, in 
twenty-three vols, folio ; the " Recueil G6ndral 
des Anciennes Lois Frangaises depuis I'an 420, 
jusqu'k la Revolution de 1789," by MM. Jour- 
dan, Decrusy, Isambert, Taillandier, in twenty- 
nine vols. 8vo. Paris, 1821-30 ; and the Capitu- 
laria Regum Francorum, edited by Stephen Ba- 
luze. This work, containing laws enacted by the 
kings of the first and second dynasties, was printed 



TpE Library. 227 

* 

at Paris in 1677, in two vols, folio ; and again in 
1780, edited by P. de Chiniac. The Capitularies, 
so named because the Laws are divided into chap- 
ters, begin a.d. 554, and end in 921. The For- 
mularies of Marculf and others are added. 

Of the customary laws of France one of the most 
interesting collections is the Coustumes de Beau- 
voisis, by Philippes de Beaumanoir, printed at 
Bourges in 1690, folio. A new edition by Count 
Beugnot, in two vols. 8vo. Paris, 1842, has been 
published by the Historical Society of France. 
This treatise of Beaumanoir, who ^as bailiff to 
Robert, » Count of Clermont, son of Louis IX., 
giving an account of the customary laws of Beau- 
voisis as they prevailed in the year 1283, "is so 
systematic and complete, and throws so much 
light upon our ancient common law/ that it cannot 
be too much recommended to the perusal of the 
English antiquary, historian, or lawyer."* 

On the Laws of Spain there is an admirable 
collection of works in the Library ; and on those of 
Italy, Germany, Denmark, and other nations, 
there are also numerous works of much value. 

* Barrington's Observations on the Statutes. 



228 Lincoln's Inn. 



THEOLOGY. 

Among the volumes most deserving of notice in 
this class are the two Polyglott Bibles, known by 
the name of the Antwerp, and the London 
Polyglott; the Hebrew Bible, with various 
readings, edited by Dr. Kennicott ; the Greek 
Septuagint version of the Old Testament, edited 
by Dr. Grabe ; and the more recent and splendid 
edition of that version, by Dr. Holmes and the 
Rev. J. Parsons. 

In the same compartment are found the edi- 
tion of the Greek Testament, by Robert Ste- 
phens, that of Dr. James Mill, and that of Dr. 
J. J. Wetstein, who received the degree of Doctor 
of Philosophy at sixteen years of age, printed at 
Amsterdam, 175 1, two vols, folio. 

Among the Latin versions of the sacred text, 
besides those of Castalio, Tremellius and Junius, 
may be noticed a fine copy of the Bible, with the 
Gloss of Walafrid Strabo, and the Commentary 
of Nicholas de Lyra or Lyranus, printed at 
Douay in 161 7, six volumes folio, presented to 
the Society by Dr. Donne, with the following inte- 
resting inscription on the fly-leaf of the first 
volume : 



The Library. 229 

In Bibliotheca Hospitii Lincoln : London : 

Celeberrimi in Urbe, in Orbe, 

Juris Mimicipalis Professorum Collegii, 

Reponi voluit (petit potius) 

Haec sex in universas Scripturas volnmina^ 

Sacrse Theologiae Professor 

Sereniss™® Munifioentiss™° 

Regi Jacobo 

a Sacris 

Joannes Donne. 

Qui hue, in prima juventute, ad perdiscendas leges, missus, 

Ad alia, tam studia, quam negotia, et peregrinationes de- 

flectens, 
Inter quae tamen nunquam studia Theologica intermiserat, 
Post multos annos, agente Spiritu ^to^ suadente Rege, 
Ad Ordines Sacros evectus, 
Munere suo frequenter et strenue hoc loco concionandi 
Per quinque annos functus, 
Novi Sacelli primis saxis sua manu positis 
Et ultimis fere paratis, . 
Ad Decanatum Ecclesiae Cathedr : S. Pauli, London : 
A Rege (cui benedicat Dominus) 
Migrare jussus est 
A° L" Mt2it : suae, et sui Jesu 

cio Id cxxl 

There is a fine frontispiece to this work designed 
by Rubens, and engraved by John Collaert. 

Among the English versions of the Bible is that 
published by Ogilby, printed at Cambridge by John 
Field, in 1660, folio, with the following inscriptio 
printed after the dedication to King Charles II. : 
" To the Hon. Society of Lincoln's Inn, this Book, 
the Holy Bible, of the fairest edition, last and best 



230 Lincoln's Inn. 

translation, adom'd with chorographical sculpture, 
presents their most obedient and humble servant, 
John Ogilby."* This volume has a fine frontis- 
piece engraved by Lombard, and is ruled with red 
lines. 

The works of most of the Greek and Latin 
Fathers of the Church are to be found in the 
Library, as well as a large collection of the works 
of the most eminent Divines of the Church of 
England, the principal writers on Ecclesiastical ^ 
History, and many of the Collections and Histories 
of Councils. 



ENGLISH HISTORY. 

The Library is furnished with the works of the 
most valuable English historians from Gildas and 

* John Ogilby, descended from an ancient family, was 
remarkable for the variety of his employments. He was 
tutor to the children of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Straf- 
ford ; master of the revels in Ireland ; printer and cosmo- 
grapher to King Charles II. ; and translated the Iliad of Ho- 
mer and the works of Virgil. He conducted the poetical 
part of the ceremony of the coronation of Charles II., in 
the composition of the speeches, mottoes, inscriptions, &c. 
Several splendid works were published by him, with plates 
by Hollar and others, some of which were dedicated to the 
Hon. Society of Lincoln's Inn, and copies of them presented 
to the Society. 



• 



The Library. 231 

Nennius to those of our own era, as Hume, Sharon 
Turner, Lingard, Mackintosh, Macaulay, Froude, 
&C. ; and here may be observed the Chronicles of 
Froissart, whose delightful pages are illustrative 
both of French and English history ; and the reprints 
of the Chronicles of Monstrelet, Holinshed, Hall, 
Grafton, Fabian, Arnold, and Rastell. The origi- 
nal editions of Holinshed are also in the Library ; 
that pf 1577, in two folio volumes, with spirited 
woodcuts, and that of 1586-7, in three vols, folio. 
One of the authors who assisted in the continua- 
tion of this work was Francis Thynne, the learned 
antiquary. 

The works printed by the ENGLISH Historical 
Society are also to be found here ; as well as the 
valuable series of historical publications now in 
progress under the direction of the Master of the 
Rolls, the Chronicles and Memorials of Great 
Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages, forming 
upwards of 100 vols. 8vo., and the Calendars of 
State Papers in about 70 vols. 8vo. 

Among the collections of State Papers and 
public documents, the pillars that strengthen the 
edifice of history, are Rymer's collection of Trea- 
ties, Conventions, &c., between the Kings of Eng- 
land and foreign powers from the Norman conquest 
to 1654 ; the Historical Collections of Rushworth ; 
the State Papers and Letters of Burghley, Sydney, 



232 Lincoln's Inn. 

Forbes, Winwood, Clarendon, Tburloe, Hardwicke, 
Strafford, &c. 

As related to this class also must be mentioned 
the Rolls of Parliament from the time of 
Edward I. to the 19th of Henry VII., printed by 
order of Parliament about the end of the last 
century, in six vols, folio. The editors were Mr. 
Richard Blyke, the Rev. Philip Morant, and Mr. 
John Topham, of Lincoln's Inn. A copioug In- 
dex by the Rev. John Strachey, LL.D,, the Rev. 
John Pridden, and Mr. Edward Upham, was 
printed in 1832, folio. This work, containing all 
the existing records of parliamentary proceedings 
from 1278 to 1503, Petitions, Pleas, &c., affords 
valuable evidence in matters of descent, tenure, and 
genealogy, and various subjects of judicial inquiry. 
Notices of many facts and circumstances essential 
to a clear understanding of the History of Eng- 
land are found exclusively in these volumes, which 
exhibit a striking illustration of the times to which 
they belong, and a faithful portraiture of the civil 
and moral state of the kingdom. 

Of an analogous nature are the Journals of 
THE House of Lords, from the year 1509 to the 
present time, forming about 100 volumes folio ; 
and the Journals of the House of Commons 
from 1548, forming upwards of 120 volumes folio. 
General Indexes to the former— extending to the 



The Library. 233 

end of the reign of George III., a portion of 
which was compiled by Mr. Thomas Brodie, have 
been printed in five vols, folio, 1817-1855 ; and 
to the latter — extending to the end of 1820, in 
seven volumes folio, 1 778-1 825, by Mr Timothy 
Cunningham, Rev. Dr. Flexman, Rev. Nathaniel 
Forster, Mr. Edward Moore, Mr. Samuel Dunn, 
and Mr. Martin Charles Burney; a volume in 
continiiation, from 1820 to 1837, prepared by Mr. 
Thomas Vardon, was printed in 1839 5 and another, 
also by Mr. Vardon, from 1837-38 to 1852, was 
printed in 1857. 

The publications of the Record Commission 
were all presented by authority to the Library, and 
form a very important series illustrative of English 
History, and of great value to the practical lawyer. 
An elaborate account of their contents, with much 
curious historical information, was published by 
Mr. Purton Cooper in 1832, in two vols. 8vo. In 
the second volume of Mr. Foss's Judges of Eng- 
land, a work in which will also be found many 
curious details interesting to the legal profession, is 
a notice of the various charter and other rolls which 
commence in the reign of King John. 

A series of the highly important Sessional 
Papers of the House of Commons, many of them 
now familiarly known as " Blue Books," from the 
year 1 801 to the present day, forming upwards of 



234 Lincoln's Inn. 

30CX) volumes, in folio, is in the Library. These, 
besides the Bills brought into Parliament, and a 
vast collection of Accounts and Papers of various 
kinds, comprise the Reports of Committees on 
Agriculture, Trade, Navigation, Manufactures, 
Mining, on the Administration of Justice, Educa- 
tion, the State of Prisons, and on subjects in every 
department of the administration of affairs of the 
kingdom ; in which the Minutes of Evidence present 
a varied fund of information of the greatest value. 
Some idea may be formed of the increase of 
public business during the last fifty years by ob- 
serving the gradual extension of these parliamentary 
documents. In the year 18 19, the number of vo- 
lumes printed was eighteen ; in 1829, twenty-five; 
in 1859, fifty ; in 1849, fifty-nine ; in 1859, sixty-two ; 
in 1869, sixty-five ; in 1871 the number of volumes 
was seventy- two. General Indexes to these Papers, 
from 1801 to 1852, and from 1853 to 1869, have 
been printed by order of Parliament ; these are of a 
very copious nature, and by their mode of arrange- 
ment every paper in the multitudinous mass is 
rendered easy of access. A series of the Sessional 
Papers of the House of Lords, from 1841 to the pre- 
sent time, is also in the Library ; the Papers of each 
Session which are not duplicates of those printed 
for the House of Commons having been arranged 
and bound in volumes. 



The Library. 235 

A recent accession of great value and interest in 
the class of English History must be here noticed 
— ^that of a volume the very existence of which was 
unknown to bibliographers until a recent period. 
This volume, forming the Introduction to 
Prynne's Records, three volumes of which had 
been presented by the celebrated author to the 
Library of. Lincoln's Inn, was acquired by the 
Hon. Society at the sale of the Stowe Library in 
1849, ^0^ *^^ sum of ^^335.* 

The remarkable work known as Prynne's Re- 
cords consists of three folio volumes, exclusive of 
this Introduction, and was compiled partly from the 
ancient records in the Tower of London, of which 
Prynne had been appointed Keeper. The title- 
page of the first volume is as follows : — '* The first 
Tome of an exact Chronological Vindication and 
Historical Demonstration of our British, Roman, 
Saxon, Danish, Norman, English Kings Supreme 
Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in and over all Spiritual 
Affairs, Causes, Persons, as well as Temporal, 
within their Realms of England, Scotland, Ireland, 
and other Dominions ; from the original planting, 
embracing of Christian Religion therein, and Reign 
of Lucius, our first Christian King, till the death 



* A detailed notice of Prynne's Records was given by the 
author of this work in the Law Review for August 1849. 



236 Lincoln's Inn. 

of King Richard I. A.D. 1 199/' The Second volume, 
bearing a title similar to the first, and extending 
from the reign of John to the death of king Henry 
III., was printed in 1665, and published before the 
first volume for reasons assigned by the author in 
his preface. Of the third volume, some copies 
exist with a title-page corresponding with the pre- 
ceding volumes, with the date 1668, but the gene- 
rality of copies are entitled : The History of King 
John, King Henry III., and the most illustrious 
King Edward I. &c. The death of the author 
having occurred shortly after the publication of 
this volume, it is supposed that the substitution 
of the title was made by his executors, or persons 
concerned therein. Some copies of the same volume 
have the title-page in Latin : Antiquae Constitu- 
tiones Regni Angliae sub Regibus Joanne, Henrico 
Tertio, et Edoardo Primo, circa Jurisdictionem et 
Potestatem Ecclesiasticam. This is dated 1672, 
and the title-page is followed by a brief address, 
probably of the publisher, to the reader, in Latin, 
lamenting the interruption of the work by the death 
of the author. The dedication of the third volume, 
dated from the author's study in Lincoln's Inn, 
July 25th, 1668, is addressed to Arthur Earl of 
Anglesey, Sir Harbottle Grimston, Bart., Sir 
Matthew Hale, "and the rest of the worshipful 
Readers of the Hon. Society of Lincoln's Inn, his 



The Library. 237 

ever-honoured kind Friends and Fellow-Readers of 
that Society/' 

The first volume of the work commences with 
Book the Second. The recently-acquired volume 
is called Book the First, and consists of the Intro- 
duction described by Prynne in the first volume 
" as not yet completed, swelling to an entire tome," 
and designed, as stated by the author in the Epistle 
to the Readers prefixed to the second volume, to 
embrace the period extending "from Adam till 
Christ's ascension into heaven ; and from thence, 
in relation to the Roman, Greek, and German em- 
perors, and other Christian kings, in foreign parts, 
till our modern age." The first four chapters, com- 
prising eighty pages, are occupied with arguments 
maintaining that the supreme ecclesiastical power 
and jurisdiction over all persons and causes resides, 
by divine ordinance, in the civil magistrate, the 
ministerial or priestly office only belonging to the 
clergy. The fifth chapter contains a history of the 
gradual encroachments of the prelacy, from the 
origin of the papal power till about the middle of 
the twelfth century, where the volume terminates 
unfinished, at page 400, with the words : coepis- 
copi tui et coma — . It is without title-page, 
but has the same head-line over the pages as 
the other volumes, viz., "An Exact History of 
Popes intolerable Usurpations upon the Liberties 



238 Lincoln's Inn. 

of the Kings and Subjects of England and Ire- 
land." 

It is supposed that not more than twenty-five 
sets of the three volumes exist, most of the copies 
of the first volume, and a great number of the 
second, together with the Introduction, having 
perished at the house of the printer in the Great 
Fire of London ; and it is worthy of remark that 
this loss occurred to the author whilst he himself 
was occupied in endeavouring to rescue the public 
records of the kingdom from destruction. It is 
probable that the copy of the introductory volume 
now in the possession of the Society of Lincoln's 
Inn had been reserved in the author's hands for his 
own use during the progress of the work through 
the'press ; and that, if any other copies were rescued 
from the fiames, not having been issued to the 
public,^ they have since perished, from the circum- 
stance of their being unfinished and without title- 
page, and having consequently been disregarded by 
persons into whose hands they may have fallen. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 

Topography is another branch of English His- 
tory, the importance of which to the legal profession 
is sufficiently obvious, as afibrding illustrations of 
the history and antiquities of the country, its man- 



The Library- 239 

ners and customs, and exhibiting the pedigrees of 
families, with the descent of ja-operty, &c.; and in 
this department the Library is especially rich, pos- 
sessing descriptions of every county in England 
which can boast of its historian, besides numerous 
histories of particular towns and parishes, from the 
Perambulation of Kent by William Lambarde in 
1570, the first separate county history that was 
published, to the recent History of Buckingham- 
shire by Dr. George Lipscomb. 

Among the more splendid topographical works 
of the present century, all in this Library, are the 
History of Hertfordshire, by Robert Clutterbuck ; 
that of Cheshire, by George Ormerod; that of 
Dorsetshire, by John Hutchins ; Leicestershire, by 
John Nichols ; Surrey, by the Rev. Owen Manning 
and William Bray ; Sussex^ by the Rev. James 
Dallaway and Edmund Cartwright ; Richmondshire, 
by Thomas Dunham Whitaker ; Durham, by 
Richard Surtees of Mainsforth ; and the History of 
Wiltshire, by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart. 

FOREIGN HISTORY. 

Amongst the numerous works on Foreign 
History in the Library, besides the early Greek 
and Roman historians,' are the great collections of 
Graevius and Gronovius ; that of Muratori ,• the 



240 Lincoln's Inn. 

*' Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la 
France," begun by Dom Martin Bouquet ; and the 
" Monumenta Germaniae Historica/' edited by G. 
H. Pertz. 

De Thou's admirable History of his own Time, 
the Monumens dela Monarchie Fran^oise of Mont- 
faucon, and the various " Collections des M^moires" 
published in France, find their place here. It may 
be superfluous to mention that the French histories 
of Daniel, Hdnault, Sismondi, Froissart, and Mon- 
strelet, and the Italian historians, Guicciardini, 
Giannone, Daru, as well as the more modem works 
of Gibbon, Niebuhr, Grote, Motley, Prescott, are 
all also to be found. 

In the class of general Biography are the 
Biographical and Historical Dictionaries of Hoff- 
man,* Mor^ri, Bayle, Collier, Aikin, Chalmers, 
Rose ; and the Biographie Universelle. 



GREEK AND LATIN CLASSICS. 

The works of all the Greek and Roman authors, 
to whom as poets, philosophers, orators, or his- 
torians, the name of the Classics has been given 

* 1 heard a man of great learning declare that, when- 
ever he could not recollect his knowledge, he opened Hoff- 
man's Lexicon, where he was sure to find what he had lost. 
— D*ISRAELI. / 1 



The Library. 241 

by the common consent of the world of letters, are 
to be found, with few exceptions, in the Library, 
though the editions are not those remarkable for 
their rarity or typographical splendour, such as the 
Jensons and Vindelin de Spiras, but those which 
are furnished with useful critical commentaries, as 
Ernesti's Homer, Schweighaeuser's Herodotus and 
Polybius, Wesseling's Diodorus Siculus, &c. 



DICTIONARIES. 

How infinitely the world is indebted to the erudi- 
tion and patient industry of the authors of diction- 
aries and grammars must be evident upon a few 
moments' reflection. By the aid of these silent 
guides the boundless fields of literature and science 
are opened to the view of the student ; and with the 
best works of this class in the various languages of 
Europe the Library of Lincoln's Inn is well fur- 
nished. It may suffice here to mention for the 
Greek language, the names of Stephens, Suidas,* 
Liddell, and Scott ; for the Latin, the Glossary of 
Spelman, that of Du Cange, the invaluable work of 

* C'est un tr^sor d'^rudition, sans le secours duquel 
I'histoire litteraire des Grecs et des Remains auroit ofFert 
d^immenses lacunes qu'il n'eut jamais 6t4 possible de rem- 
plir.— BiOGRAPHiE Universfxle. 

Q 



242 Lincoln's Inn. 

Forcellini, and the excellent Lexicon of Scheller ; or 
the French, the work of Manage, the Dictionnaire 
de Tr^voux,* that of Littr^, and that of the French 
Academy, with the Mdmoires sur la Langue Cel- 
tique, by Bullet, in three vols, folio, 1754, in which 
is a Glossary giving the etymology of many of the 
names of towns, rivers, &c. of Great Britain. 

The Italian, Spanish, German, Anglo-Saxon, 
English, and other languages, are illustrated by the 
best dictionaries for each. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

In the class of Bibliography and the History of 
Literature, will be found in the Library the Manuel 
du Libraire et de TAmateur de Livres, by Brunei ; 
the Bibliotheca Britannica of Watt ; the works of 
Tiraboschi, Le Long, Ginguen^, Antonio, and 
Casiri, &c. 

* The Dictionnaire de Tr^voux derives its name from a 
small town in France, where the Due du Maine, early in 
the last century, as prince sovereign of Dombes, having 
transferred his parliament and other public institutions, 
established a magnificent printing-house. The first edition 
of the work from that press, was in 1704, in three volumes, 
gradually increased by the contributions of the most emi- 
nent men of letters in France, to eight volumes, folio. The 
last edition was printed in 1771. A peculiar feature of 
this dictionary is its being furnished with quotations from 
the French classical writers. — D'Iskaeli. 



The Library. 243 

Among the Catalogues of Public Libraries • will 
be found most of those which have been printed of 
the British Museum ; the Catalogue of the Bodleian 
Library ; that of the Advocates' Library at Edin- 
burgh ; and those of the principal libraries in the 
kingdom. 

Many eminent members of the legal profession 
have been distinguished as collectors of books. 
One of the first of these was Arthur Annesley, Earl 
of Anglesey,t whose name appears at the head of 
the Readers of Lincoln's Inn, to whom Prynne dedi- 
cated the third volume of his Records, and who 
was author of the Privileges of the Houses of Lords 
and Commons, and many other works. He was one 
of the first noblemen in England who collected an 
extensive library, which consisted of **the choicest 
jvolumes in all faculties, arts and languages," and 
was kept at his seat at Blechington, near Oxford, 
but was sold by public auction after his lordship's 
death. 



* In all great Libraries there should not only be a col- 
lection of all the catalogues of libraries existing in the 
country, but so far as possible, a collection of those of all 
the libraries in the worid. A great library should in fact 
contain within it a library of catalogues. — Report of 
THE House of Commons on Public Libraries. 

+ He had studied the laws with such diligence, as to be 
styled and esteemed a lawyer, even by the most conceited 
lawyers of his time. — Biographia Britannica. 



Z44 Lincoln's Inn. 

Another eminent collector was Philip Carteret 
Webb, of Lincoln's Inn, solicitor to the Treasury 
in 1756-65, the sale of whose library, in 1771, includ- 
ing his MSS. upon vellum, occupied seventeen days. 
Matthew Duane, of Lincoln's Inn, also a collector 
of books and coins, was a curator of the British 
Museum, and is reputed to have been " universally 
esteemed for his profound knowledge, great abilities, 
and unsullied reputation in the profession of the 
law." 

Among the lawyers of the present century who 
have been known as collectors of books are Mr. 
Serjeant Hey wood ; Mr. Baron BoUand ; Mr. Justice 
Littledale ; Mr. John Miller ; Mr. Benjamin Hey- 
wood Bright ; Mr. Sutton Sharpe, and the late Mr. 
Louis Hayes Petit, whose library was particularly 
rich in philological works ; Mr. Charles Purton 
Cooper ; and Mr. Clement Tudway Swanston. 



Having thus taken a cursory survey of some of 
the most important classes of books in the Library 
of Lincoln's Inn, the author must bring his pleasant 
task to a conclusion, not tarrying among the works 
of Bacon, Boyle, Locke, Newton, and others, in the 
department of mental and natural philosophy ; nor 
venturing to linger, tempted by such names as 
Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser, and Ben Jonson, 



The Library. 245 

among the poets and dramatists ; nor must he 
venture to survey those fields of literature, wherein 
the names of De Foe, Swift, Fielding, Johnson, 
and other celebrated authors, might deserve a far 
more extended notice. 

In relation to natural philosophy, there are not 
as yet in the Library many of the volumes which 
record the wondrous discoveries of modern science ; 
neither can works on the Fine Arts boast of much 
display upon its shelves. 

My task is done — a task that may recall 

And touch with life the shadows of the past : — 
The courts — the chambers — ^and that ancient hall, 

Where names revered around their lustre cast — 
The sacred fane, where preachers, holding fast 

The pure, calm faith, its champions aye have been— 
All rise to view ; then, shining forth the last, 

Far o'er the rest, in tow'ring grandeur seen, 
Rises the late-rear'd pile, majestic and serene. 

Nor has it been less pleasing, sooth to say, 

Within their oaken shrines, in goodly rows. 
Those varied stores of learning to survey, 

Whence voices seem to burst from their repose — 
To tell how laws, how creeds, how faith arose ; * 

While visionM forms of sages meet our eyes, 
Who to the toihng student's ear disclose 

Such words of wisdom as his heart may prize, 
To chasten, train, and guide the hopes that in him rise. 



ADDENDA. 




HE following curious inscription, lately 
become legible by the cleaning of the 
stone, may be thought worthy of preser- 
vation here. It is on a small marble tablet, in two 
pieces, inserted in the brick-work of an external 
chimney at the back of No. 13 of the Old Square, just 
beyond the crypt of the chapel on the north-west. 
The person commemorated in this inscription is 
Mark Hildsley, who was admitted as a member of 
the Society in 1649, ^.nd called to the bar in 1655. 
There is no record to show whether the tablet was 
originally inserted in this place, or has been copied 
from a gravestone which has been removed : — 

Optimus et Dominus mihi maximus 

nt benedicat 
Ore : (ut fulvu aurum Virtus 
in igne micat). 

His mercys are to all y' heare Him 
His goodness unto y™ y* feare Him. 
Feb. XV<> MDCXCXI. 



248 Addenda. 

Exuvise Marci Hilslij Do 
Lincolniensis Hospitii Armig. 

Hoc in loco inhumatur 

Miilslij corp* vitae satur 

Cui Marc' (Alderman) pater 

£t Dorothea fuit mater 

£t Stephanus (mercator) frater 

P. Cantab. Oxon. hue meatur 

Qu3i Line's in plus ultra datur 

Conjugibus bis decoratur 

At licet filiat* quater 

Duobus tantii is beatur 

Nat. 15 Apr: 1630. Denat MDCXCIII. 

Mi. LXIII. 

Est mihi mors lucrum felix : postfunera vivam. 



In the description of the western oriel window in 
the New Hall, it should have been mentioned that 
the arms of Prince Albert, quartered with the Royal 
Arms of England, have been placed in the lower 
division of the window. 

* This unintelligible line is printed as engraven on the stone. 



INDEX. 



Accursii, Franciscus, 15. 
Acts of Parliament, see Statutes. 
Alaric II. Breviary, 211. 
Aldric, 218. 

American Law Bookst 177. 
Anglesey, Earl of, 2^5. 
Anianus, Breviary ot, 21 z. 
Anglo-Saxon Laws, 4, 8. 
Appeal Cases, 191. 
Armorial Bearings — 

Gate-house, 48. 

Chapel Windows, 73. 

Front of Library, iii. 

New Hail, 115, 118. 

Vestibule, 121. 

Library. 129. 
Assises, Book of, 171. 
Assises de Jerusalem, 224. 
Barristers, 18. 
Basilica, 217. * 

Beaumanoir— Coutumes de 

BeauvoisiSf 227. 
Bellewe's Cases, 186. 
Benchers, 18. 
Bibliography, '242. 
Biography, 240. 
Blackstone, 175. 
Bolting, 20. 

Bonifacii Decretalia, 22a 
Books with chains, 141. 
Bracton, 13, 153. 
Britton, 155. 

Brooke's Abridgment, Z7a 
Brydall, Collection of Pam- 
phlets, 143. 
Burnel, Robert, 14 
Busts — 

Brougham, Z17. 

Cicero, Z2z. 

Denman, ZZ7. 

Lynd hurst, 1Z7. 

Swanston, Z26. 
Caius, see Gains. 
Canciani, 223. 
Canon Law, 2z8. 
Canute^ Code of, 4. 



Capitularia Regum Franc, 326. 
Carter, Opinions on Chapel, 63 » 
Catalogues, Z46. 
Charles XL, Visit of, 58. 
Chapel- 
Consecration, 66, 8z. 

Bell, 69. Organ, 7Z, 

Windows, 7Z. 

Mural Tablets, 79. . 

Crypt, 67, 69, 8z. 

Preachers, 82. 

Chaplain, 89. 
Cholmeley, R., 142, z68, 154. 
Cicero, Bust of, Z2Z. 
Civil or Roman Law, 208. 
Clarendon, Constitutions of, 8. 
Classics, Greek and Latin, 34a 
Cle mentis Constitutiones, 220. 
Coke- 
Notice of Law Writers, Z49. 

Commentary upon Littleton, 
Z64. 

Reports, Z87. 
Cooper, C. P. C.| Donation, Z44. 
Colchester MSS., Z44. 
Council-Room, Z22. 
Corpus Juris Canonicii 2z8. 
Corpus Juris Civilis, 2Z2. 
Courts and Chambers, 48-5Z. 
Coxe's MSS. . Z44. 
Cromwell, Oliver, 48. 

Richard, 48. 

Crypt of Chapel, 67, 69, 8z. 
Dialogus de Scaccario, ^ 
Dictionaries, 24z. 
Denison, £. B., Life of Bishop 

Lonsdale, 87. 
Doctor and Student,* Z65. 
Domesday Book, 6. ( . 
Donations of Plate — \ 

Anglesey, Earl of, 57. 

Duane, M., 244. 

Fellowes, W., 58. 

Franklyn, N., 70. 

Greene, J., 58. 

Park, Sir J. A, 70. 



250 



Index. 



; Rainsford, Sir R., 57. 

Rich, £. , 57. 

Wharton, Lord, 57. 
Donations of Books — 

Cholmeley, R., 142. 

Brydall, J. , 143. 

Coxe, J., 144. 

Colchester, Lord, 144. 

Cooper, C. P., 144. 

Hale, Sir M., 143. 

Melmoth, W., 144. 
Donne, Dr John, 66, 81, 229. 
Drawing-room, 122. 
Edward the Confessor, Laws of, 4. 
Edward L, Legislation, 14. 
English Law — 

Treatises, 149-177. 

Reports, 178-191. 
' Statutes, 192-206. 

Trials, ao6. 
Entries, Book of, 173. 
Erskine, Lord, Statue of, 56. 
Escutcheons, see Armorial bear- 
ings. 
Ethelbert, Code of, 4. 
Extrava^ntes, 220. 
Ferrers' Translation of Statutes, 

199. 
Feudorum Consuetudines, 225. 
Fitzherbert, Abridgment, 168. 

Natura Brevium, 166. 
Fleta, 157. 
Foreign Law, 336. 
Fortescue, 164. 
Fresco in Hall, Z17. 
Gains, 314. 
Gardens, The, 96.. 
Gate-house, 46. 
Glanville, 9, 151. 
Gratiani Decretum, 319. 
Gregorianus, 3ii. 
Greeorii Decretalia, 219. 
Hadde, W., 140. 
Hale, Sir Matthew, MSS., 143. 
HalU The Old, 52. 
Hall, The New, and Library — 

Foundation, 99. 

Exterior, 103. 

Interior, 11^. 
Halls, dimensions of several, 1 13. 
Hastings, Warren, Trial, 207. 
Haverhyll, William de, 39. 
Hengham, 159. 
Henry L, Laws of, 7. 
Herlirum, John, 37. 
Hermogenianus, 2x1. 
Hill, Serjeant, MSS., 145. 



History, English, 330* 

Foreign, 239. 

Hoffman's Lexicon, 340. 
Hogarth, painting by, 55. 
Holinshed, Chronicles, 331. 
Home's Mirror of Justices, 159. 

"Liber Horn," 160. 

Horwood, J., Year-Books of 

Edward I., 181. 
Inns of Court, 16. 

Chancery, 33. 

Inscriptions in New Square, 93. 

Interments in Crypt, 81. 

Ireland, Statutes of, 306. 

Jones, Inigo, 66. 

Jonson, Ben, 97. 

Journals of House of Lords, 333. 

Commons, 333. 

Justinian — 

Institutes, 2X4> 

Code, 3x3. 

Digest or Pandects, 313. 
Kentish Kings, Laws of, 4. 
King's or Queen's Counsel, 38. 
Kitchen, The Old, 53. 

The New, x3o. 

Lacy, Henry, Earl of Lincoln, 

Lambard, 8, 173. 

Lancelotttis, asi. 

Law Reporting, New System of, 

190. 
Lectures, 31. 
Legal Education, 30. 
Legatine Constitutions, 221. 
Lex Scripta, 6. 
Library — 

Original Foundation, 139. 

Donations, 142. 

Catalogue, X45. 

Arrangement, 148. 
Lindenbrog, Codex Legum, 333. 
Littleton's Tenures, x63. 
Lords Justices, 53. 
Lovell, Sir Thomas, 47. 
Lyndwor>d, Provinciale, 222. 
Lyra, Nicholas de, 228. 
Mackintosh, Sir J., Lectures, 

21. 
Magna Charta, 11, 
Marculf, Formularies of, 334. 
Marrow's Justice of the Peace, 

165. 
Masques, 60. 

Maynard, Serjeant, MSS., 145. 
Melmoth MSS., X44. 
Milo of Crotona, 134. 



Index. 



251 



Molmutian Laws, 3. 
Moodngs, 20. 
Monumental Inscriptions — 
Spencer Perceval, 79. 
£. L. Brougham, 79. 
H. W. Seton, 80. 
Sir J. Simpkinson, 80. 
Natura Brevium, Old, z6i. 

New, 166. 

Nethersale, John, 139. 
Neville, Ralph, Bishop of Chi- 
chester, 36. 
New Square, pz. 
Novae Narrationes, 161. 
Ogilby, John, 229. 
Old Bailey Sessions Papers, ao8. 
Old Buildings, The, 44. 
Old Tenures, i6z. 
Oleron, Lavrs of, 9. 
Pandects, 2x3. 

Parliament, see Sessional Papers. 
Paul before Felix, 55. 
Perceval, Spencer, Cenotaph. 78. 
Perkins' Profitable Book, 166. 
Portraits, i23«i26. 
Preachers, 82-88. 
Provinciale, 222. 
Prynne's Records, 246. 
— — Donations, 142. 
Pulton's Statutes, 200. 
Queen's or King's Counsel, 28. 
Rastell's Statutes, 199, 200. 
Record Commission, 233. 
Registrum Brevium, 172. 
Reports — 
Bellewe, 186. 
Bulstrode, z88. 
Coke, Z87. 
Croke, Z89. 
Dyer, Z87. 

Dumford and East, Z90. 
1 Keilwey, Z87. 
Plowden, z86. 
Saunders, Z89. 
Term Reoorts, zgo. 
Year Books, Z42, Z79. 
Revels, 57. 

Rolls, Master of the. Publica- 
tions, 231. 
Rolls of Parliament, 232. 
Rolle's Abridgment, Z7Z. 



Roman or Civil Law, 208. """^ 
Scobell's Acts of Parliament, 

90Z. 

Scotland, Laws of, Z77. 
Scotland, Statutes of, 203. 
Selden, Dissertation on Fleta, 

157- , 

Books, Z5S, Z83. 

Selwyn, W., Z3S, zs3. 
Serjeants-at-Law, 26. 
Sessional Papers, 233. 
State Papers, 23Z. 
Statham's Abridgment, 167. 
Statutes, Z92-203. 

revised edition, 20a. 

mode of division into 

classes, Z95. 

Staunford. X67. 

Stone Building. The, 94. 

Suidas, 24Z. 

Suliard, W., 44. 

Sundials, 5z. 

Swanston, Z26, 344. 

Tancred's Students, 60. 

Textus Roffensis, 4. 

Theodosian Code, azo. 

Theology, 228. 

Theophilus, Paraphrase, 216. 

Thornton, z6a 

Thurloe, J., chambers, 5a 

interred in crypt, 8z. 

Topography, 238. 

Trials, 206. 

Twelve Tables, Laws of, aio. 

Vacarius, az8. 

Vestibule in New Building, 
zao. 

Vice-Chancellor's Courts, 48, 53. 

Victoria, Queen, Visit of, Z31. 

Warburtonian Lectures, 90. 

Watts, G. F., Fresco, zz7. 

Webb, P. C, 844. 

Welsh Triads, 3. 

Wich, Richard de la, 38. 

William I. , Laws of. 5. 

William III., Arms in Chapel, 77. 

Year Books, Z79. 

given by R. Cholmeley, 

142- 

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